


Heartlines

by Omoni



Series: Abovetale [24]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Blind write, F/F, F/M, No Outline, OC FishlizardCHILDREN, OC Goatchild, Politics, Readers will have definite say in the goings-on of this fic, Surprise continuation!, Wedding, finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 01:41:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 60,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7870612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omoni/pseuds/Omoni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been over thirty years since the barrier broke, and things seem to finally be balancing between humans and monsters. However, when Carlson is up for parole, it's up to everyone to try to either get him to stay in jail, or cope with the possible consequences for his freedom. </p><p>Yet another unexpected part of Abovetale that I'd never thought I'd write. Sorry x_x. It also started off as an addition to 'Dandelion' but ended up spurring into something else completely different. I'm just as surprised as you all are.</p><p>Also, it's close to thirty-five years since the barrier broke. Expect recurring characters, plot threads that are finally tied together that were left loose, and my usual brand of weirdness and politics.</p><p>Lastly, I'm writing this completely blind, so I'm going to need any opinions or input that any of you have. You guys can have total last say in what happens in this fic, so do speak up if you have anything you want to see! I kinda depend on it :)</p><p>As usual, the title and chapter titles are inspired by the Florence + The Machine song of the same name. Do listen to it for a great soundtrack to the fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Before I Can Breathe Easy

Years after the Watchers of the Delta Rune were disbanded, and years after the Ten-Year Treaty became law, life still went on.

Children were born, grew up, and had families of their own. Adults aged and passed on. Time never stopped, even if those within it did.

Alphys knew this very well, especially when she looked into the eyes of her second daughter.

Dandelion was a strange child, at least compared to her sister. Alphys didn't really like comparing the two - it didn't seem very fair - but she couldn't help herself at times.

It didn't escape her notice just how much Dandelion looked like her. While Basket seemed to be an almost perfect blend of herself and Undyne, with only a few exceptions, Dandelion looked very much like her. She was short, round, and was even more yellow than green. Though she had Undyne's red hair and her fan-shaped ears, as well as her piercing eyes (though where Undyne's eyes were yellow, hers were white), slender hands and feet, and a very short tail, her face was definitely more like Alphys.

It was strange to look into the face of your daughter and see so much of yourself.

Another thing that struck Alphys was just how quiet Dandelion could be. She didn't cry as often as Basket had, and when she did, the volume was almost half of what Basket could utter. She also had a strange penchant to always need to know where Alphys was, at any time. Her sharp eyes would follow her mum wherever she went, and if Alphys left the room - even in the company of Undyne - Dandelion would fuss as if Alphys had left the country. Basket had fussed, yes, but certainly not to _that_ degree - and never over Alphys, alone.

That wasn't to say that she didn't love Undyne. On the contrary: she and Undyne got along rather well, especially those first few weeks while Alphys was still incredibly weak. Undyne was her playmate; the first time she smiled was with her, and the first time she shrieked out her laughter was because of her. Undyne, in turn, loved Dandelion to her very soul, calling her "Lioness" because of how fierce she could look when she wanted or needed something. Undyne loved the way Dandelion followed Alphys around, be it with just her eyes, or, once she learnt to crawl, literally. She saw it as a good sign, though Alphys didn't really understand why.

As Undyne worked, Alphys developed a routine with Dandelion. She'd sleep in as much as she could until she heard Dandelion wake up, then she'd be at her side and scoop her from her cradle and into her arms. Dandelion immediately clung to her, becoming calm as soon as she saw her mum.

Alphys's heart always felt too big for her chest at these moments, so surprised that she could evoke such a reaction from anyone, least of all a baby.

She carried Dandelion, humming under her breath as she did, something her daughter seemed to love, despite how badly her voice would crack or miss notes. Then, as she would offer a breast to Dandelion, she herself would eat breakfast, watching the news to update herself on everything going on.

After that, she would spend the day with Dandelion, going out for walks, reading to her and playing with her, until Undyne came home and scooped her up. giving Alphys a bit of respite until the evening.

On this day, this routine was broken, and was likely for the best, as it gave everyone involved a much needed head-start.

In over three decades, the city seemed to finally have found its equilibrium with humans and monsters. More and more, there was evidence of the growing peace between the two races - including children.

With Nickname, there seemed to be a kind of permission that soon flooded the populace - especially later, when Athena and Darian Reden had their son, Dawnson, over a decade later. Soon, it wasn't uncommon for there to be hybrids everywhere. Frisk even had an edict passed to grant them duel citizenship, though by now, the Underground wasn't very populated.

On this particular day, Alphys watched with interest as they discussed Nickname, now. True to her dreams - and character - she had become a diplomat, one that smoothed over relations between monsters who wished to travel beyond the city and out into the world. She was incredibly good at the job, and had helped Basket and Olceal on more than one occasion when trouble arose.

It used to feel strange, seeing her friends on TV in such an intimate way. Now, however, she found herself rather expecting it. They couldn't escape the fact that their lives were rather open, having done what they did - especially when it came to Frisk and Asriel, and Toriel and Asgore. Nickname was just one of many of those results that warranted more discussion.

Though Alphys had to admit, on this day, she did find it strange that they were focusing specifically on Nickname and her work outside of the city.

Dandelion pulled away from her breast and squirmed a little, so Alphys picked her up and held her up, patting her back gently as she continued to watch. Dandelion's small hands clung to her as she was patted, and it oddly always seemed to comfort Alphys when she did that. Basket had always been in a hurry when it came to burping; for her, there was always so much more to do.

Alphys's eyes stayed on the screen, however, as now she was suddenly interested in what they were saying.

"There has been some speculation that former politician Carlson is up for parole based on good behaviour in the next few weeks, likely as early as next week. Carlson, as we remember, was a major instigator in a series of planned attacks on Ambassador Frisk Dreemurr - and later, her daughter, Diplomat Nickname Dreemurr - that almost led to the loss of their lives. He will be up for review in the upcoming week, but despite his seemingly good behaviour, it does appear doubtful that he will be granted parole."

Alphys closed her eyes and relaxed, sighing deeply. It was at this moment that Dandelion burped, and she held her closer, stroking her red hair gently as she did.

The last that Alphys ever wanted was that horrible man back in their lives, especially now with Dandelion in her life.

She shuddered a little, remembering that terrifying afternoon in which she was attacked and left for dead, and Basket's screams were all she could hear...

She kept her eyes closed, holding Dandelion closer and burying her face into her wispy hair.

She didn't want that to happen again. _Ever_.

She hoped that the parole board would change its mind, or at least realise the mistake they were likely to make. Carlson was not a young man anymore, but whatever years he had left were sure to be spent making the lives around him miserable.

And she didn't want that, ever.

There was a sudden knock at her door, startling both her and Dandelion into looking up and toward the sound. Carefully, she shifted Dandelion to her hip, did up her housecoat, and went to it, peering out first before she answered it, surprised.

"sans," she greeted, unable to hide the confusion from her voice. "Hello. What are you doing here so early? I-I haven't even showered yet."

"you saw the news, right?" he said without preamble, his eyes hard.

"E-er," she shifted Dandelion closer, who was watching sans with sharp eyes. "Y-yes, just now."

She opened the door wider and gestured for him to come in, and he did, his hands in his pockets and his face grim.

"he's gonna get out," sans said flatly.

Alphys blinked at him, dread lancing her gut. She knew that sans didn't make proclamations like these easily.

"H-how can you know that, sans?" she wondered shakily, leading him to the living room less out of manners and more because she now needed to sit down. Dandelion curled up into her lap, contented and rather sleepy now that she had just eaten, and Alphys held her close. "Y-you know Frisk and Asriel w-won't let that happen."

"i don't think they're going to have much of a say in this," sans replied grimly, sitting on the couch, his eyes on Dandelion, who stared back at him sleepily.

"B-but he tried to kill Frisk. Three times. And Undyne. And he tried to kill Nicky. And me. That's rather hard to ignore."

"but the asshole has money, alphys, even after almost twenty years in jail. and he has friends." sans looked angry at the entire prospect, let alone the fact that he was saying it at all. "he'll get out, and we need a plan."

Alphys hesitated. "Wh-why did you come to me, first, sans?" she asked shakily.

His eyes moved up to hers. "because you know what's on the line if he gets out."

Alphys's eyes lowered to Dandelion, and she held her closer, shaking a little, now.

"there are no more watchers, no more protection," sans went on flatly. "yeah, i can still use my power, but i have no idea if it'll be enough anymore. these assholes are proving harder and harder to get rid of. we need a plan. we need to assume he'll get out, and we need to figure out what to do the moment he does."

"But we haven't had a threat in years, sans," Alphys couldn't help but protest. "Short of the occasional rude letter, there hasn't been a serious attempt on any of us in all of this time."

"alphys," sans sighed. "frisk turns forty-five next month."

"Yes, I know."

"do you really think they've been sitting around doing nothing for all of this time? it'll be thirty-five years since the barrier broke. they're going to try something, and they're just waiting for their ringleader to be free so that they can start. it's amazing they didn't do it five years ago. now we know why."

"But nothing happened after twenty years, or even twenty-five--,"

"except that frisk and the weed got waves of death threats and wore bullet-proof vests for a month," sans interrupted. It was true, after all. "you know what they're capable of, alphys. you have the scars to prove it. and this is a guy who managed to manipulate both monsters and humans before they even liked each other. how easy do you think it'll be now?"

She swallowed hard, her eyes getting a steel glint to them. "Very," she admitted. "Let me talk to Undyne. You should talk to Frisk and Asriel."

sans nodded, slowly rising to his feet. "i wouldn't bother you this way if it wasn't serious."

"I know," she agreed, meaning it.

She walked him out, then leaned against the closed door, shutting her eyes tight and holding her daughter to her chest, still shaking. By then, Dandelion was asleep, and Alphys was glad for it; it was then that Alphys started to weep.

* * *

Nickname sighed, rubbing her forehead. She was struggling over one of the many stacks of paperwork that she needed to get done before the day was, and it was stressing her out, despite the day having just begun. She hadn't had enough coffee and had had no time for breakfast, and she felt odd on top of it.

She had a sudden urge for her mother, though she didn't really know why.

At twenty-four, Nicky was as accomplished as her mother had been, albeit to a lesser degree. Though similar to her mother's position, her job as diplomat was nowhere near as taxing or bogged down with as many responsibilities. Frisk, as Ambassador, had the load of a diplomat as well as several others added along, and Nicky often found herself wondering how her mother could possibly deal with all of it at all, let alone starting from age ten, let alone seem to enjoy it.

Granted, she had Asriel's help, and though Asriel wasn't exactly the calm sort, he was definitely a politician, by blood as well as by appointment. Both of her parents weren't really seen as politicians, however: they were seen as something more than that, likely due to their lack of corruption and the amount they were willing to sacrifice for their peoples.

The shoes were rather large to fill, and Nicky knew she could never truly fill them, but that didn't stop her from trying her hardest.

Yet she still couldn't shake the strange feeling within her. Something was wrong, but when she looked to her notes, she didn't see anything amiss.

With a scratch to her head, she grabbed her phone and texted her cousin.

_"Bassy, is everything okay?"_

There was a pause, likely due to the time of day where Basket was, but she did eventually get a reply back, though it was evident that Nicky had woken her up.

_"yeah. whats wrong? everything ok? mum and mom ok?"_

Nicky hesitated. _"Sorry, I'll text you later on, when it's a better time."_

_"ffs, nicks. spill. whats wrong"_

_"I'm not sure. Something feels off. Everything is okay where you are?"_

_"too fuckin hot, no ac, but other than that, peachy. want me to call you later?"_

Nicky agreed, and left her alone after that. Clearly, whatever was wrong was all on her side. So, she decided to check online, figure out if she was just truly caffeine-deprived, or that her senses on her monster side were trying to warn her of something.

As a half-monster, Nicky had some magic, but no where near the same capacity as her full-blooded friends. What she got instead was akin to a strong kind of intuition, almost a sixth sense of perception that very rarely proved wrong.

Although, to be fair, she truly wished she was wrong, this time, and that it was lack of coffee or breakfast.

Reading the headlines, however, proved that she had been right to be afraid. She covered her mouth, reading quickly over the news about Carlson's upcoming parole review, and she knew it as fact that this was the source of her discomfort.

She didn't remember too much about the man. All she knew had come from her family, especially her father. She remembered very vaguely some memories of a time in which her life had been in danger, and she'd been protected by her family during that time because of him.

She also remembered when, a year later, Carlson was finally put in jail and her father was so happy he got drunk - his first and last time, she remembered fondly.

But she also knew that he was the one that had almost killed her mother - thrice - and had almost killed her aunts Undyne and Alphys.

She knew enough to hate the man, even though she'd never met him.

So to learn, now, that there was a chance that he was about to be free from prison, she felt a snake of fear uncurl within her gut and begin to slither its way up her spine.

No good could come from this.

With shaking hands, she picked up her phone and dialled a number.

* * *

Asriel was eyeing a stubborn shrub, Asgore beside him and doing the same. It was one that, no matter how many times both of them tried, would never seem to obey simple instructions. It grew oddly, and could never be sculpted, and randomly either flowered weird misshapen flowers or simple just stood there and stank, though neither of them knew how or why.

"This is stupid," Asriel growled. "Let's just get rid of it."

Asgore stared at him in shock. "Asriel, that's not fair! Just because it doesn't meet our standards doesn't mean it should be removed. We just... haven't found the right methods yet."

Asriel opened his mouth to reply caustically when his phone rang. Blinking, he grabbed it, saw it was Nicky, and answered it right away.

"Howdy!" he greeted cheerfully.

"Howdy, Papi!" Nicky replied. "Got a second?"

"For you, anything!" Asriel replied, happy for the distraction.

He waved to Asgore and went to the side to take the call, leaving his father eyeing the shrub critically. "What do I owe for this lovely surprise?"

"Papi," Nicky said, her voice sounding strained. "Have you heard the news lately?"

He paused, sudden worry filling him. "What do you mean? Is everyone okay?"

"Papi, Carlson is up for parole."

Asriel went numb for a moment. He knew she wasn't lying, which was why he suddenly found himself close to a faint. Flashes of memory hurtled into him from behind his eyes, and he covered them with a shaking hand, lowering his head.

"No," he murmured. "That can't be true. He was supposed to be jailed for life."

"He's being reviewed based on good behaviour, Papi. It has been over fifteen years, after all."

He knew. He loved this country that he lived in, loved the people and the beauty of it. But he often found himself loathing the justice system and how confused and dilapidated it could be at times. He knew that those sentenced to life in prison had the chance for parole as early as fifteen years later, but he had hoped that Carlson had been corrupt enough to not deserve it.

Apparently, he was wrong.

"Does your mother know, yet?" he asked softly, trying to keep calm.

"I don't know," Nicky admitted, sounding as if she were doing the same. They were very alike, after all. "I almost don't want to tell her. Where is she working today?"

"Underground," Asriel said. "She wanted to visit the remaining communities still living there, especially now with the human population over a third of it. Do you think the Underground knows, yet?"

"I hope not," Nicky said sadly. "She deserves to hear it from us."

"I'll call her. You keep doing your job, Nicky, okay?" Asriel paused, rubbing his eyes. "Try not to think about it for too long. It won't help. Just do what you do best, and we'll face it when we need to. Do you know when the hearing is?"

"They're scheduling it for..." She paused, clearly reading. "A week from now at the earliest."

"Okay. Thank you, honey. I'll keep you posted. And Nicky?"

"Yes, Papi?"

"Thank you for telling me. I'm glad it was you."

"Me, too," she agreed.

* * *

Frisk still loved the Underground.

Though different, now, it was still a cathartic place for her, one that never lost its sense of comfort and peace.

It had taken years for the place to be smoothed over enough so that humans could live here without fear on either side, but once it had, it was so wonderful to see. The Underground attracted people who wanted their lives to be slowed down, quiet and without the constant rush of the surface, and that was exactly what it was like. It was a popular retirement place, as well as a place for raising children (though they still went to school on the surface).

She loved it here.

She was just entering the Ruins to visit the quiet folk there when her phone rang. Bemused, she saw it was Asriel and answered it with a smile.

"Hello, sweetie," she greeted. "How are you?"

"Frisk," he said, his voice a little strained. "Are you busy?"

"Not yet. What's up?" she wondered, a little worried, her smile flickering. The tone of his voice was one she had heard before, the one he used when he had to relay something he knew she didn't want to hear.

And she was right.

"Sweetie," he said softly, "Carlson is up for parole."

It was odd. Of all of the things she had expected to hear from him, that was the least of all.

She found herself sitting down on the ground, her legs folding up against her chest, her free arm going around them. She couldn't speak; what could she possibly say? Nothing, no words, could possibly convey how she felt upon hearing this.

"Frisk?" Asriel's voice was gentle, and it comforted her. "Love, I'm here. Just take a few breaths, okay? Take your time."

She did, always grateful for Asriel and his patience. She lowered her chin to her knees, her eyes wide but unseeing. She felt that long-buried fear suddenly rise up into her like acid reflux, and she wanted to pretend she was dreaming and about to wake up to a better day.

"The hearing is set for next week. I think we should go, so that we can speak against his being released. How do you feel about that? Do you think you can?"

"I..." she whispered, her grip on her phone tight. "I can't believe this..."

"I know. It's fucked up." Asriel's voice was sharp with anger, anger that she knew he was barely containing. "It's completely fucked up. But I think we need to be there. And you won't be alone, okay? I'll be right beside you."

"Asriel..." Her voice was choked up, and she realised she was weeping, completely unaware of when she began.

"He won't get out, Frisk," Asriel growled. "He _won't_. You and I, we'll make them see reason. We'll make them see how stupid they are for even considering it. Okay?"

"Asriel... I need to see you," she pleaded, her voice tiny. She didn't know why she said this, only that it was the truth.

"Okay," he said at once. "I'll meet you at home."

"Please," she agreed. "I need you."

"And you have me. See you soon."

They hung up, and Frisk got to her feet, shaking like a leaf in the breeze. She went toward the exit, practically running from the Underground, her entire checklist for the day forgotten in one horrifying moment. 

* * *

The moment she got home, Asriel was there, and she was in tears the second their eyes met. He held her close, burying his face into her shaking shoulder, unable to help his own tears in response.

Both were shaking, years of memory streaking by them so hard that it left them almost breathless. Asriel stroked her hair, and Frisk rubbed his back, but both were unable to stop their tears for the moment.

"I made tea," Asriel whispered, once a lull fell between them.

Frisk nodded and pulled away, and they went into the kitchen, where Asriel poured them both chamomile tea and brought out some of the chewy cookies they both liked. Frisk drank her tea but only picked at the cookies, and Asriel was the same way.

They held hands tight.

"This is insane," Frisk whispered. "He's a criminal. He tried to kill children, my father, my _family_. Isn't there anything that can be done about it?"

Asriel chewed on his lip. "Well, I thought about asking Darian about it, since he was a cop and was also the PI for Carlson's original case. But, with Dawnson and all... I didn't want to make things stressful for him, too."

Frisk's eyes flared. "Dawnson. Do you think he's in danger, too? He's a hybrid, too."

Asriel sighed. "I know. But then, look at his parents. And he's at the school, now, and has been for over a decade. He'll be protected."

"What do we do, Asriel?" Frisk wondered helplessly.

"Honestly? All I want to do is panic."

She rubbed his hand gently, managing a small smile.

"But what I really think we should do is prepare for the worst, and hope for the best," he concluded. "We have at least a week. That's enough time to plan. And then, when it happens, if it happens, we'll be ready."

Frisk stared at him, her eyes fierce and bright with determination. "He will not touch my family again, Asriel. Even if it means I have to kill him, myself."

"Believe me, Frisk," Asriel replied softly. "I feel the exact same way."


	2. But In Order To Get To The Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't be shy, everyone! Please, do comment on whatever you want to see! Otherwise it'll be all up to me, and who wants that? :P

When the door buzzed to New Solace, Asriel and Frisk were curled up on the couch together, just holding each other, occasionally voicing their thoughts and fears but mostly just sitting quiet, taking comfort in the other's embrace. The sound startled them both, but Asriel was the one who got up first to answer it.

"it's sans. can i come up?"

Asriel blinked in surprise. "I'm surprised you're actually using the door, bastard."

The response was a sigh. "yes or no, weed?"

In reply, Asriel buzzed him in.

By then, Frisk was beside him, looking just as confused. "sans used the front door?" she asked. When Asriel nodded, she blinked at him. "That's... really weird."

Asriel, however, looked thoughtful, now. "I wonder if he knows. He did know to come here, after all, instead of the school or Underground."

Frisk nodded this time, her eyes glinting. "He knows," she agreed.

The moment they opened the door to his knock, sans walked in and surprised them both by hugging Frisk. Oddly, her surprise didn't last, and she hugged him back. He was, after all, the one who had been at her side through many of her conflicts with Carlson - including the last one that got him in jail in the first place. She appreciated the comfort - was grateful for it, really.

Asriel put a hand on sans's shoulder gently, and after a moment, sans pulled away, though he kept a hand on Frisk's arm.

"i heard," he said softly, and both Frisk and Asriel nodded. "he can't get out. he can't. but he will."

Frisk bit her lip, looking away, gesturing for him to come in, and Asriel went to the kitchen to make more tea.

"I don't know how we can possibly stop it, sans," she admitted softly, sitting down at the kitchen counter, her head in her hands. "He's rich, he's got friends within the system, and he's apparently been squeaky clean in jail."

sans glared, but not at her. Rather, he glared because she was right, and it was frustrating. "there has to be some way to stop him."

Asriel handed him a mug of tea, though he knew that sans wouldn't really drink it. It just made him feel better to make it, really.

sans took the mug politely and held it between his hands, looking down into it.

"There isn't," Frisk said suddenly, her voice sharp. Asriel and sans looked at her, and she looked at her hands, which were clenched before her. "There isn't, so we need to make sure he doesn't come near our family."

"Frisk--," Asriel touched her hand gently, but she looked up at him angrily.

"No, Asriel," she snapped. "We can't be naive about this, anymore. The moment he's freed, he's going to come after us. And we need to be ready."

"and how do you plan to be ready, frisk?" sans wondered. He looked as if he agreed, but he also looked torn. "you're a pacifist. you're the ambassador of both of our peoples. what do you plan to do?"

Frisk glared at him, her eyes glinting, but she bit her lip, unable to answer. She didn't have an answer to that, because it was true.

 _"I'm_ not a pacifist," Asriel suddenly snapped, glaring at sans, now, too. "I'll--,"

Frisk grabbed his hand tight. "No," she said, her voice soft, now. "No, Asriel."

sans was quiet for a moment, before he said, "i could do it. i could kill him. it would be so easy. i could do it before he even steps out of his cell, and i could make it look like it was a natural death, too."

For a horrible moment, both Asriel and Frisk were tempted to agree, staring at their friend with the same torn expression, because it, too, was the truth: sans _could_ do that, and do it very easily.

But then, Frisk surprised them. She slammed her fists onto the counter and snarled out, _"No._ That's not our way. That's not how we've done things. No matter how many times they've knocked us down, we've always, _always_ kept our hands clean and been the better people. No, sans."

Her eyes burned into his, and he stared back, shocked into silence. "The last time you tried, don't you even remember how much of a disaster that was?! Is your memory so short?!"

Asriel put a hand on hers, but she jerked it away, glaring at him, now.

"And _you_ , Asriel. You're a father. You know exactly the price it would cost you to do anything like that. You've done it before, remember? And you've spent every single moment of your new life trying to make amends. You'd throw it all away just because of one person, a person who probably _wants_ you to do that, to prove everything he has ever said as fact?!"

Asriel and sans stared at her, and she looked away, her teeth gritted and her hands shaking, now.

Then, they looked at each other, sharing the same expression: shame.

She was right, and they both knew it.

They knew she said it from deep down, despite probably wanting exactly the opposite, and her pain hurt them both. They wished it could be that easy, but the fact of the matter was, if they did kill Carlson, they would be doing exactly what he always said they would do - and become exactly what he always said they had been.

"frisk," sans said softly, after a silence that seemed louder than words. "i'm sorry."

She looked up at him finally, her eyes still blazing. "Then actually _listen_ to what I'm _saying_ , sans," she answered sharply. "I want to kill him. There is no one else in the world who wants to kill him more than _me_. Yet I'm saying what I am because it's more important and honest. Remember that, okay?"

"i will. i promise."

She looked up at her husband, whose eyes were full. "Frisk, I'm so sorry," he whispered. She reached out and took his hand, and he held it tight, shaking. "You're right, of course you're right."

"so, then," sans said carefully. "what are we going to do about this? the hearing is at least a week away. we only have a week to prepare."

"We need everyone," Frisk answered. "We need everyone's help on this. Tonight."

Asriel nodded, as did sans.

"That's a good start," Asriel agreed.

* * *

 "Alright, you idiots, go away."

Undyne rubbed her forehead and glowered at her students, though she was smiling and they stared back at her with expressions of admiration and affection. "Go eat or whatever. You're annoying me, and I'm hungry."

At that precise moment, the bell rang, and they scattered with laughter.

She laughed a little and followed - only to find her wife and her daughter waiting for her at the doorway. Alphys smiled at her, holding Dandelion to her chest in a sling, and Undyne grinned in delight and immediately hugged them both.

"Alphy! Lioness!" she cried, kissing Alphys first, then Dandelion, who blinked up at her with a happy smile and a wave of her arms. "I'm so happy to see you! What the hell are you even doing here?"

Alphys smiled, still, but that was when Undyne noticed that something was a little strained about it.

"Alphy?" she murmured, cupping her wife's face into her hands gently, and Alphys bit her lip, looking down.

"Can we... c-can we go somewhere private?" Alphys asked softly. Undyne nodded, grabbed one of her hands tight.

Together, they walked to the schoolyard, finding themselves gravitating to the tree that Basket used to haunt during her time there. It was luckily deserted, so they sat down against the trunk and leaned against each other.

Alphys took Dandelion from her sling and handed her to Undyne, who took her with a happy grin and held her close, the grin returned with a squeal of happiness. Alphys then reached into the bag she wore and pulled out the lunch she packed for them both, and Undyne smiled at her, this time.

For a while, they ate and exchanged small talk, deciding to enjoy each other's company for a while. When they were finished, Undyne held Dandelion in her lap (who played with her hair in contentment) and met Alphys's gaze sombrely.

"What's going on, Alphy?" she asked gently.

Alphys stared at her, her hands tangling in front of her, shaking. "It was on the news this morning. Carlson is going to have a parole hearing as early as next week."

Undyne stared at her for a long moment, her face blank.

Then, slowly, she handed Dandelion back to Alphys, stood up, and slammed her fist into the tree with a shout. Both Alphys and Dandelion jumped in surprise - especially when she did it again with the other fist.

Then, as if she suddenly ran out of strength, she dropped back down to her knees and lowered her head, her eyes shut and her teeth gritted and bared, her hands tangled into her hair.

Alphys reached forward and touched her shaking shoulder gently, and she reached up and grabbed Alphys's hand tight, holding it to her cheek. Dandelion's sharp eyes were on her mom, her brow furrowed and worried-looking.

"Alphy, this _can't_ be true," Undyne whispered weakly - a rare tone of voice for her, indeed.

Alphys said nothing, just rubbed her cheek gently in reply, and Undyne lowered her head further, before leaning toward her and rested her forehead on Alphys's shoulder, still shaking. Dandelion reached up to resume playing with her hair, and that oddly comforted her.

"There's a chance he won't be granted parole, Undyne," Alphys said softly. "Th-there's always a chance."

"When has our luck ever been that good, Alphy?" Undyne wondered flatly, her voice hollow. She reached out with her other hand and touched Dandelion's cheek, which earned her a sound of delight, another thing that comforted her and began to slow her racing heart down.

"I-I think our luck is pretty good," Alphys admitted. "After all, despite everything, we're still here."

Undyne looked up at her, her eye dark, and Alphys smiled faintly.

Undyne pulled her close and kissed her deeply at that, something she returned without any hesitation. It was true, after all - especially for the two of them.

They had proof of that within Alphys's arms, after all.

When Undyne pulled away, she kept her hand on Alphys's cheek, her other now on Dandelion's head.

"They will not touch you again, Alphy," she growled, her eye flashing.

Alphys nodded, her own eyes hard. "Nor will they touch you," she agreed. _"Ever."_

Undyne leaned back, keeping her hands in place. "Do the others know?" she wondered.

Alphys shrugged a little. "I'm not sure. sans came by to see me the moment he found out, and he said he'd tell Frisk. I don't know if Toriel or Asgore know, let alone Papyrus."

"We need to tell Basket," Undyne said suddenly, pulling her hand away and grabbing her phone into her hands, her fingers shaking. "She and Olceal need to find a safe place to hide."

Alphys hesitated, then said softly, "They need to come home."

Undyne looked up from her phone, searching Alphys's eyes closely, before she nodded. "You're right. They need to come home. We can't trust anyone anymore, and we can't protect them if they're so far away. She needs to be home."

Alphys nodded as well, holding Dandelion closer to her, who in turn looked up at her and eyed her curiously, her small hands latching onto the front of her shirt tightly.

Before Undyne could even begin to write a message, she saw she already had a text from Frisk, asking her to come to New Solace once school was over. Confused, she looked up at Alphys.

"Are you up to going to see Frisk after school?" she wondered.

Alphys paused, then nodded. "I can meet you here again with Dandelion. It should be no problem."

Undyne replied to Frisk exactly that, then texted Basket right after. _"Basket, we need you to come home, as soon as you can,"_ she sent.

There was a long pause, before Basket replied. _"Okay, you too? What the hell is going on? Nicky texted me all weird earlier, too."_

_"Book the flight and I'll tell you. Just do it, Basket. I'm not asking you. You and Olceal need to come home, NOW."_

There was another long pause. Then, _"Okay, Mom. I trust you. I'll let you know when it's booked and when it's due in."_

Undyne raised her head and nodded to Alphys, who looked relieved.

Undyne put her phone away and moved closer to her, pulling her and their daughter to her close and holding her tight. Alphys closed her eyes and rested her head on her shoulder, grateful for this moment of repose, at least.

* * *

Basket threw her phone across the room with a snarl. Olceal, who had been asleep beside her, woke up with a start, surprised.

Basket hadn't been able to sleep too well ever since Nicky had texted her, and now, with her mom's texts, she was wide awake - and pissed off. She slid out of bed, her tail twitching furiously, already overheated and tired and thus only wearing her underwear.

Olceal watched her, bemused, completely naked and still hot, too hot to move quite yet.

"Bass," he said softly, rubbing his eyes. "What's going on?"

In reply, she grabbed her phone and tossed it to him angrily. He caught it, sitting up, and read the texts, both the messages from Nicky and from Undyne. He frowned in confusion.

"They want us both to come home right away?" he wondered softly, wondering if he was still half-asleep. "Without any explanation?"

"Apparently," she grumbled, pulling out her suitcase and beginning to throw her clothes into it without looking, not realising that she missed half the time. "But I trust Mom. If something's wrong, and they need me home, I'm going home. Even if they're being annoyingly obscure about it."

Olceal frowned, a flash of worry hitting him. He sat up completely, crossing his legs and leaning over her phone, pulling up a browser and reading the headlines, before making a face and switching from Australian news to the country of their birth.

Then he jolted, his eyes going wide, and he shouted out, "Fuck!"

Basket turned around, throwing a shirt up in the air in her own surprise at his outburst. "What's your problem?!" she demanded, still grumpy.

"I'm booking the flight now, Basket," he answered sharply, his voice wavering, his fingers flying over the keypad of her phone. "I'm booking them right now. We can't wait. We need to go as soon as possible."

"You're pissing me off, stoat," she snarled, getting to her feet and hovering over him. "What is going on?!"

"Pack," he answered. "I'm almost done. The soonest I can get is tomorrow morning. You in?"

She sighed. "Yes. Now tell me what the hell is going on?!"

Olceal looked up at her, his expression so woebegone she froze, her anger suddenly stuttering into something lower. "Basket, that asshole who tried to kill your family might get out soon. You need to get home."

Basket swallowed, hard. Of course she knew who it was.

Without a word, she turned back and started packing again, this time doing a better job.

As she did, she said, her voice wavering, "That's as soon as you could get?"

"Sorry," he said softly. "But it's the _only_ one I could get."

"O-okay," she nodded, her hands trembling as she rolled her clothes and tucked them into her suitcase. "Okay. I-I'll pack. You-you talk to our boss, t-tell them what's g-going on. I'll pack f-for you, too."

"Good idea," Olceal agreed. "But for now, I'll help you."

Basket didn't answer, her lips closed tight, her eyes wide with fear. Olceal knelt down beside her and gently stopped her, taking her hands into his, and she stopped, trembling from head to toe.

Long-buried memories, murky and dreamlike, seemed to pierce through her mind, of a time she should not remember but suddenly seemed to, and it terrified her. She knew that those memories were attached to that man, and they both scared her and enraged her.

With a small sob, she turned to Olceal and hugged him tight, her fingers digging into his back.

Olceal held her close, stroking her hair slowly. "We'll get there," he promised. "We're going to get there. I promise, Basket."

She nodded, shutting her eyes tight and burying her face into his soft shoulder. "M-my mum," she whispered. "Th-they almost killed her. A-and my mom, t-too." Her voice was choked with tears. "I-I can't lose them, Olceal. I-I _can't."_

"You won't," he said softly, kissing the top of her head gently. "We'll get there, and you can protect them."

Her fingers dug into his back harder. "I _will_ protect them," she growled. "They will not get hurt again."

Olceal nodded. "Then let's get packed, and get home. Okay, my dear?"

She hugged onto him for a moment, then pulled away, looking up at him and searching his face. "Y-you... Olceal, I... I th-think w-we..."

She bit down on her lip, hard, smothering what she wanted to say in an instant.

Olceal blinked, though oddly his heart started to race; what had she wanted to say?

Instead of elaborating or finishing her thought, she went scarlet and looked away, then pulled back and started packing again, silent. With a gentle caress of her cheek, he helped, deciding to put aside any thought to it.

She'd tell him if - or when - she wanted to.

* * *

_"Nicky, if you can leave work early today, can you meet us at New Solace, please? We need to talk, sweetheart."_

Nicky had been expecting this text ever since she called her father, and before she replied to her mother, she checked around her office to see if she could. Since everyone knew Nicky and knew how hard she worked, it actually wasn't that hard to ask to leave early, since she very rarely did. Gratefully, she thanked everyone, and replied to her mother that she would be home in an hour.

On the way home on the bus, Nicky couldn't read, which is how she usually spent the time on the bus. All she could think about was what she had to deal with once she got home.

She was scared, and she hated it.

She rubbed her forehead and stared out of the window, her senses again twinging and giving her trouble. She could sense that something was very off, but couldn't figure out what exactly it could be. That was the problem with being only half-monster: her magic had very little direction and offered very little detail.

By the time the trip was over and she was off the bus, she was surprised to find sans waiting for her at the stop.

"Uncle sans?" she said, blinking at him in surprise.

In reply, he gave her a hug, then gestured for her to follow him. She did, and oddly they walked in silence, sans not even once offering a joke or a pun.

She did not like that at all.

On the way up in the elevator, sans finally spoke. "nick, your parents need you, quite a bit, okay?" When she blinked at him in confusion, he added, "they're strong, but they need you to be, too. can you do that for them?"

"Yes," she agreed without pause. "I'd do anything for them."

He touched her hand and squeezed it with a smile, and she smiled back.

Together, they walked out of the elevator and toward New Solace.

* * *

Toriel found Asgore in the shed. Somehow, she knew that was where he would be. He was sitting down, his head in his hands, and for the first time, she suddenly realised just how much white streaked his light hair.

It surprised her; how could she not have noticed before now?

She walked over to him and knelt down in front of him, taking his hands into hers. He looked up at her, his eyes full and dark, his expression almost hopeless.

"Tori," he rasped out.

She nodded, but he couldn't say anything else. She pulled on his hands, and he leaned forward and collapsed into her arms, holding onto her tight, bursting into tears. She held him tight, closing her eyes, her own tears falling free.

For a long time, they remained that way, both unable to do anything else.

When Asgore was spent, Toriel whispered, "Frisk wants us to meet at her place, to talk it out. Are you able to come with me, my love?"

He hesitated, then nodded slowly against her shoulder.

"I know it's hard," she admitted gently, and he nodded, clinging tighter. "But this time, we're prepared. We know what we're up against. And we're going to be okay. Do you hear me, Asgore?"

"Yes," he whispered.

She kissed his cheek gently, stroking his hair, and he closed his eyes tight.


	3. I Think Sometimes You Have To Cut Through

Papyrus was the last to arrive, looking conflicted and sombre. sans touched his hand, and Undyne gave him a huge hug, one he returned gratefully.

By then, Asriel had supplied everyone with chamomile tea, and met Papyrus at the door with one, who took it with a slightly bemused expression but with thanks.

They were sitting in the living room in a rather cramped way. All five Dreemurrs had managed to squish onto the couch, Nicky in the middle with her grandparents on one side, her parents on the other.

Sitting on a chair was Undyne, and on her lap was Alphys, and in her lap was Dandelion. All three looked strangely comfortable despite the way they were stacked; a known mystery to their family but one they would never give up.

In Undyne's hand was her phone, and on the screen was Basket, looking exhausted, hot, and angry. Beside her, only half in frame, was Olceal, with an arm around Basket tight.

sans and Papyrus sat down in the chairs brought into the room from the kitchen, and then, after a moment of pregnant silence, Frisk spoke up, her voice flat.

"Are we all in agreement that we're going to attend the hearing?"

Everyone, even Basket, nodded sombrely.

"I guess the question I have next is, what do we do once we get there?" she added, her hand on her forehead.

"We protest the moment we can," Asriel growled. "The second they open the floor, we get up and tell them exactly why he shouldn't be allowed to get out."

"Every single one of us here has had to deal with the consequences of that man's actions," Toriel said softly, sipping her tea slowly. "More than once, and in horrible ways. All of us saying something has to have some kind of impact on his release."

"They can't ignore us," Nicky agreed. "Especially Mami." Frisk looked up at her. "She's Ambassador, and she's had to put out the fires he's lit so many times it's ridiculous."

Nicky glared suddenly. "All of this is ridiculous. Why is this even happening?!"

"He's served his time," Asgore said hollowly, his eyes blankly staring at nothing in front of him. "That's the truth of the matter. He's served his time and been what qualifies as good within that jail. That's the way the system works."

"Even if we protest, it's likely that the very fact that he has served his time, and well, will overrule anything we say," Toriel added, her hands clenching around her mug of tea, not even noticing that it boiled. It was the only sign of her fury.

"So then," Asriel growled, "no matter what we do, he's going to get out."

"That can't happen!" Basket snarled from the phone, her eyes flashing.

Dandelion, recognising her sister's voice, turned around and peered at the phone curiously, one hand reaching out toward the screen. Undyne held it out of reach, which in turn had Dandelion making a face, but it wasn't time; it was too serious.

"I think we all agree on that, Bassy, dear," Undyne replied, sounding exhausted. Her other hand was on Alphys's shoulder, rubbing slowly.

Alphys looked very sombre, her eyes so dark it was rather saddening. Sometimes, her hand would go to her chest and rub absently.

"We have to prepare for that," Frisk said softly. "Because out of all of the outcomes, no matter how much we protest, Papi and Mami are right, and the system will rule in his favour. He _will_ get out. And we need to be ready."

"How do we get ready for something like _that?"_ Undyne wondered flatly, her eye narrowed. "How do we possibly prepare for the likelihood of more and more attacks on us, for no reason other than the fact that we _exist_ and it makes him and his stupid followers angry?"

"we have power," sans spoke up, his pinpoint eyes rather dim. "we have power and we shouldn't be afraid to use it, if it means defending ourselves and our family."

Asgore's head shot up suddenly, his eyes wide. "The Watchers," he said, surprising everyone there. "What if we bring back the Watchers?"

Toriel frowned, her face going red with anger, but she said nothing in reply. She moved to sip her tea - only to find that it had almost boiled away by then.

Papyrus spoke up, surprising them. "THE WATCHERS ARE DISBANDED. WE ONLY HAVE TWO OF THEM LEFT. IT WON'T BE ENOUGH."

"Two is better than none," Undyne snapped. "And I don't mind taking up the spear as Paladin if it means protecting all of you."

"And..." Alphys said softly, looking up and glancing at Asgore, her eyes still dark and sombre. "Sh-should you need replacements... I-I... I will step in, too."

"Alphy," Undyne started, but Alphys shook her head.

"I w-would do anything for a-all of you," Alphys admitted, a sheen of tears filling her eyes, but her face was hard, determined. "I would. I-I know I'm weak, but I c-can fight. I w-would fight f-for you. F-for all of you."

No one truly believed her, then. But it wouldn't be long before she proved it true - and made them regret their doubt. 

Nicky's head suddenly shot up, her eyes bright. "Yes," she agreed. "Me, too."

"IT SHOULD GO WITHOUT SAYING THAT I WOULD, TOO," Papyrus added with a nod.

sans hesitated, then sighed. "alright," he muttered. "i will, too."

 _"Stop_ , all of you," Frisk suddenly broke in, her eyes hard. "Stop it. Do you even know what you're _saying?!"_

"Yes, Mami," Nicky agreed, looking so serious that Frisk was suddenly speechless. "Why else would we volunteer?"

Asgore had covered his face with his hands, his shoulders shaking. Of all of the possible outcomes of this conversation, he never expected something like _this_.

Toriel's expression suddenly softened at this, and she put her arms around him tight, stroking his hair slowly.

"i have a condition, however," sans suddenly said, his voice sharp. "i will be judge _and_ executioner."

"No," Frisk snapped. "There will be no executioner! Dammit, don't any of you understand, you, especially, sans? We can't kill him! We _can't!"_

"why?" he asked. She wondered, for a moment, if he was being deliberately obstreperous, until she realised that he was actually being serious. "why can't we kill him? why can't we kill the single instigator in all of our misery?"

"Because, sans," Frisk growled, her voice low. "The moment we do is the moment we destroy _everything_. I've told you this already. What is wrong with you?!"

sans simply stared at her, his eyes so dim she feared they would go out, but she didn't look away. She couldn't. She meant what she said.

"She's right, bastard," Asriel snarled. "Shut up about that, will you?"

sans did, but his eyes remained on Frisk. It took her a long time to look away.

"Alright, everyone, please calm down," Toriel said gently. "One thing at a time. We don't even know if he'll get out. For now, let's focus on the parole meeting, and what we can say in order to keep him within those walls, shall we?"

Basket burst out, quite suddenly, "He's practically a fear-mongering domestic warleader. How about we begin with _that?!_ "

"Bassy," Alphys tried gently, but she wasn't done.

"That man's actions led to _both_ of my mothers being shot and left for dead," she snarled, her eyes filling with tears. At her side, Olceal pulled her closer, but she still cried, anyway. "He doesn't deserve to see sunlight ever again."

"We have no proof of that," Undyne said softly, though her eye was dark and her hold on her wife was tight. "Carlson denied any involvement in both cases. He only admitted to trying to murder Frisk at the park."

"But Darian's research had him connected to the assassination attempt!" Asriel answered sharply. "We have it in writing!"

"But he said he wasn't guilty, and they couldn't convict him on that. They could only convict the shooter and the poisoner," Frisk muttered, her head in her hands. "Darian tried. He really did."

"Is there any way," Nicky suddenly spoke up softly, "any way at all, that we can connect him _now_ to those crimes?"

"I asked Darian," Undyne sighed. "There isn't. He was too crafty. He covered his ass way too well."

Asgore looked up slowly. "Then, do we even have a leg to stand on?"

A small, frustrated silence met his words at that, because it was a good question. If they couldn't prove that he was the mastermind to the worst of the crimes, how could they possibly manage to keep him in jail, after he'd served his time for the crime he was actually sentenced for?

They couldn't. It wasn't how the system worked.

"Fuck him," Basket suddenly snarled. "I say we just say it anyway. Fuck proof--."

"Basket," Undyne growled back. "Not in front of your sister, dammit!"

Dandelion had peered at her sister's image curiously from her tone, but didn't seem too bothered by it. She looked up at her mom with the same expression, and both Basket and Undyne went red in embarrassment.

Alphys smiled faintly and gave Dandelion a gentle kiss on her nose, which had her wrinkling it and making a small noise in protest.

The moment had everyone almost spellbound. It was a good reminder of why they needed Carlson to remain where he was.

"Above all," Frisk said softly, "we have to make sure that no one gets hurt. Too many of us have experienced too much pain at the hands of him and his cronies."

"No shit," Undyne grumbled, then blushed when Basket glared at her. "Well, it's true!"

Asgore spoke up, his voice still very soft. "I think, above all, we need to remember that. Even if we have little proof, the proof we have should be enough. He... he shot Frisk at point-blank, with the intent to kill her. And more than one person saw him do it."

"We need Darian," Frisk added regretfully. "I hate bothering him, now. He's doing so well with Athena, Dawnson, and Iggy. To bring him back into this... It doesn't feel right."

"It would be the last time," Asgore said, though he, too, sounded regretful.

"I hope so," Frisk said softly, her head in her hands. "It... all of it... had better end with this."

* * *

That night, Nicky stayed over. She usually didn't, as she had her own apartment now in the city, closer to her work, but the expressions on her parents' faces made her stay - especially when they looked relieved when she offered. They even hugged her at the same time, something she had missed very much.

That night, they squished on the couch together and watched Nicky's favourite movie (which was still Spirited Away, even after all of this time) and had her favourite meal (well, Asriel and Nicky did, as it was snail pie, while Frisk had regular Scotch pie, which made them laugh).

When she went to bed, her parents stayed up, and as she was drifting off, she heard some of their conversation, which made her wish she could get up and hug them again.

"What _can_ we do, Asriel?" Frisk wondered softly, curled up against him, her cheek resting on his chest as he stroked her hair slowly. "Everything is stacked against us."

"I know," he replied gently, resting his cheek on the top of her head, closing his eyes and trying not to tear up. "But you and I, we're determined, Frisk. Even if he gets out, we'll be ready. And we'll win."

"Asriel..." Frisk buried her face into his chest, her shoulders shaking, and he held her closer, now unable to keep his own tears at bay.

In her room, Nickname curled up and shut her own eyes, feeling her own tears choke her. She decided, right then, that she would do everything in her power, with _her_ determination, to make sure her parents would be safe.

No matter what.

* * *

Asgore couldn't sleep that night. He lay awake, staring up at the ceiling, the house too quiet for him, despite the steady, soothing sound of Toriel's breathing beside him. He couldn't stop thinking about what sans had said - and what he had felt following it.

The moment sans had offered to be both judge and executioner, he realised just how much he actually wanted that to come to pass. He wanted the comfort of the Watchers again, and wanted desperately to protect his family with their power.

But every single time he thought about that, he remembered the look on Undyne's face whenever she looked at Alphys and Dandelion, and he knew, he just knew, that he couldn't do it. He couldn't do that to her, and he couldn't do that to her family.

But, oh, he wished he could. He wished he could bring them back. He wished he had some way to be the Watchers by himself, to protect them all by himself.

Except, more and more, he was feeling his age.

He was growing old, for the first time actually feeling it, and with that he felt such crippling fatigue that it bordered close to apathy - which in itself rather scared him.

It _was_ crippling, this ageing, because it also made him feel so very, very sad.

"Gorey."

He jolted, looking over to Toriel, who was now on her side and looking at him with sombre eyes, no trace of sleep within them.

"Tori," he stammered. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

She reached up and touched his cheek softly. "I'm glad I'm awake, my dear. Clearly, you need someone to talk to."

Asgore rolled over onto his side and cupped her face into his hands gently, pressing his forehead to hers and closing his eyes. "

You already know," he whispered, and she nodded, closing her own eyes. "You know me so well, I'm certain you knew how I felt before I did."

Toriel pressed closer to him, sliding her arms around his waist. "Yes, sometimes, Gorey," she agreed. "But you can't do everything by yourself. You tried that, once. You know how that turned out."

He opened his eyes, and found hers already open. "Yes," he agreed sadly.

"Then hear me well, Gorey: the best thing you can do is support them. You can't shoulder all of their burdens, but you can help them shoulder them alongside them." She smiled softly, though it was a little sad. "It's our burden as parents, having to watch our children become adults themselves, and not step in and solve all of their problems ourselves."

That was it, exactly.

And it was that that finally broke Asgore.

He shut his eyes, feeling tears well up into them, and he held her tight, unable to restrain his sobs, now. She held him tight, her own tears dampening his hair, but she didn't let go.

She never would.

* * *

"I'm sorry I lost my temper," Basket said softly, looking down.

Both Undyne and Alphys smiled at her, Undyne moving the phone closer to them both. Dandelion, in Alphys's lap, was also smiling at the image of her sister, her hands occasionally trying to reach out and pull the phone from her mom's hand in order to gum it - which she ended up doing at least twice.

"And I am, too," Undyne agreed. "Just goes to show you that you're my daughter, indeed."

Basket finally smiled, her shoulders lowering a little, and both of her mothers were relieved to see it.

"When is your flight due?" Alphys wondered, tugging Dandelion's hands away gently. "We-we'd love to meet you there."

Basket lit up. "I'd love that, too! We're about to head out soon, so it should be late morning."

"I have to work, Peridot," Undyne sighed.

"But Dandy and I can meet you!" Alphys replied cheerfully.

Basket looked overjoyed by the prospect. Undyne put her arm around Alphys and gave her a gentle kiss, which made Basket smile warmly.

"I miss you so much," she admitted. "I... I don't know if I can leave again, once I get back there. Olly's the same. I think we're done, here."

They stared at her.

Dandelion took the chance to grab the phone and gum it, which was a welcome distraction.

The moment they could, Undyne said, "Are you _serious_ , Peridot?"

Basket nodded. "I love it here, but... I've _really_ missed home. Being here... I realised I belong there, with you."

Alphys buried her face into Dandelion's head, shutting her eyes, her shoulders shaking.

"Oh, Mummy," Basket murmured. "It's okay. Please, it's okay."

"She's happy," Undyne replied with a gentle smile, rubbing Alphys's shoulder slowly.

Alphys nodded, her face still hidden.

"We've missed you so much, Bassy. We can't wait to see you."

Basket looked to the side suddenly, and they heard Olceal say gently, "Time to go, Bass." She bit her lip, then looked back to the screen, her eyes filling.

"We'll see you soon," Undyne added, though her own eye was shining.

Alphys raised her head and nodded, tears running down her cheeks, though she was smiling. "F-first thing!" she promised.

"I-I love you both," Basket replied, her voice choked. "See you soon."

When she hung up, Alphys handed Dandelion to Undyne and covered her face with her hands, bursting into tears. Dandelion stared at her, startled, her small hands grabbing onto the sleeve of her nightgown. Alphys leaned against Undyne, who held them both close.


	4. And There’s Fantasy, There’s Fallacy, There’s Tumbling Stone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to give a very special, heart-felt THANK YOU SO MUCH to **Khalliys** over on Tumblr for an incredibly brilliant idea that was and is absolutely PIVOTAL to this story. You have no idea how much it means to me! THANK YOU!

_"Mummy!"_

Both Alphys and Dandelion - from her sling across Alphys's chest - looked up and smiled from the sound of that voice, and Alphys opened her arms immediately, before her eyes even fell on her daughter. She saw a streak of red hair and green skin before she was hugged so tight she lost her breath (luckily, Basket had a presence of mind to hug away from her sister), but that didn't stop the joyful tears from filling her eyes.

For a moment, the two cried softly, holding onto each other tight.

Dandelion chose this time to reach up and grab onto her sister's arm and dig her fingers into it as hard as she could, making a sound of protest. Basket pulled away briefly and leaned down, giving Dandelion a loud, sloppy kiss on her nose, which delighted her so much she screeched and waved her hands.

At a leisurely pace was Olceal, who caught up to them with a grin and a wave. Alphys spared him a tight hug, and he went scarlet and hugged back awkwardly.

Basket allowed this for about ten seconds before she pulled him away and hugged Alphys again. Olceal coughed, still red, and made the excuse of getting their luggage, leaving the two where they were.

"Oh, Bassy," Alphys said, cupping her face into her hands. "I've missed you _so_ _much_ , you have no idea."

Basket kept one hand on Alphys's shoulder, the other on the top of Dandelion's head. "I've missed you, too. I'm so glad I'm home. It feels so _good_ to be home."

Alphys smiled brightly. "Even though it's colder?"

Basket grinned. _"Especially_ because it's colder!" she corrected jovially. "Plus, Australia's not as hot as everyone thinks, especially at night."

"Tell me all about it," Alphys demanded. 

Arm-in-arm, they walked together, soon catching up with Olceal. Alphys made sure to grab hold of his hand and pulled it to her, so that their arms linked, too, which made him blush - but smile genuinely, too.

Together, they left the airport and on their way back home.

* * *

Olceal, before he left to see his mother, pulled Basket aside to say goodbye, and Alphys gave the two privacy. Basket held onto him close, giving him so many kisses that he complained that his fur would get soaked - which earned him a flick to the nose and a grin that he knew was meant only for him.

"I'll text you later, and we can meet up tomorrow, or after supper tonight, if I'm released," Basket added, her arms around his neck.

Olceal blinked at her. "Bass," he said carefully. "You were going to say something to me, before we left. Do you remember what it was?"

The blood suddenly flooded to her cheeks; she knew _exactly_ what she had been going to say.

She stared at him, for a moment speechless, torn between lying and just blurting it out, before she spluttered out, "N-now? N-now isn't... it's n-not the time."

"Uh," Olceal coughed a little, looking embarrassed. "You're not... are you?"

"Oh, for _fuck's_ sake! Literally!" Basket laughed, burying her face into his shoulder. _"No,_ you stupid stoat! You know damn well it takes more than what _we_ do to have _that_ happen!"

Olceal sagged a little in relief. "You're right, heh. Sorry. I'm just... I don't think I'm there, yet."

"I don't think I'll _ever_ be there," Basket admitted, surprising him. She looked up at him and smiled, her expression soft, her eyes even softer. "Relax, Olly. It's no big deal. Just go home for now and we'll talk later. Give your mom a hug for me, okay?"

He nodded, kissed her deeply, something she returned with eagerness, before they hugged again.

Then they parted, and Olceal drove home, thrilled, himself, to be seeing his own mum, again, too.

* * *

 Alphys was curled up with Dandelion in the chair when Basket came back in, and Alphys smiled at her.

"I hope you don't mind sleeping out here, Bassy," she said gently. "On the fold-out. It's just, with Dandelion--,"

Basket leaned over and hugged them both in reply. "Of course I don't mind," she agreed. "But if _you_ don't mind, I need a nap, now. Jetlag." She made a face.

Alphys nodded, sitting up. "You can use our room," she said immediately, and Basket looked very grateful for this. "Do you think you'll be able to be up in time for dinner?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Basket promised.

* * *

sans stood on the balcony of New Solace alone, his hands in his parka's pockets, his eyes dim and staring over the skyline in silence.

None of the Dreemurrs were home, which was precisely why he was there. This was the only place on the surface in which he felt comforted without anyone else around him, and he couldn't expect anyone else to understand how he was feeling - even Papyrus.

He knew it was rather juvenile to have such thinking. Only babybones and adults with baby brains would think that no one else could possibly understand them, and intellectually he knew he should just _talk_ to someone about these feelings that he had - and couldn't shake.

Because someone, he _knew_ , was going to die - or come as close possible to it.

Since prior - twice - it had been Frisk - and once at his own hands - he feared that it would once more be her.

His hands clenched into fists in his pockets, his eyesockets shutting tight at the memory of that. He would always regret that, and would always spend his entire life grovelling to make up for it.

sans had hoped, so very dearly, that it would be Carlson who would be the one to die, and he would be so happy to have it happen - hopefully at his own hands, too. But the more he honed his intuition, the more he realised the error of his thoughts, and he realised, quite coldly, that it would be one of them.

And it would be outside of his control, completely.

That alone had the power to make him shatter

He just wished he knew _who_ , so that he could _for_ _once_ prevent it. So many times he had faced this same dilemma, been cursed with this same foresight, only to be too damned late or too damned wrong.

He gritted his teeth, no trace of a smile there, wishing over and over again that if he had to be cursed this way, then at least make it so that he could help at the right time, before the worst could happen.

But there was nothing there. Only the signal in his brain that someone was going to die, and that he wouldn't be able to stop it. It even seemed like he wouldn't even be there to see it, to see them die.

He wondered if that was a blessing or a blight.

sans couldn't cry. There were many instances in which he could. Papyrus somehow managed it, though he never could figure out how.

Was it a matter of soul? Was it because their souls were so different, so varying, that it was why Papyrus could and sans could not?

It didn't matter.

The only thing he knew for sure was that, at this moment, on the balcony of the one person he loved deeper than anyone else and always would, he wished he could sob out all of his pain and sorrow.

But he could not.

* * *

Nicky accompanied Frisk on her rounds that day, happy to do it. She'd been granted permission to do so, and she found that at her mother's side, she could learn so much more than she learnt on her own in a small office with stacks of paper and screens in front of her.

Frisk loved having her at her side, reminded of the days when she was pregnant with her and the sight of Frisk's rounded belly was enough to stop even the worst of arguments. It was no less now; if anything, with the adult Nicky at her side, the cheer was merely intensified, as now she could actually talk back and laugh and defuse situations with a smile and a joke.

Frisk had never been prouder to be her mother, and sometimes had to look away, feeling the sting of tears and smothering them before anyone could see them.

At lunch, they went to the school and surprised Asriel with a meal out, something he was so happy about his eyes shone, and he hugged them both so hard they were breathless. It was no secret that Asriel was stressed out and scared, so to have the company of both his wife and his daughter was a delight that could not be matched.

They went to Kenzo, Asriel's choice, and they ordered so many salmon onigiri that the staff had to keep up to keep them stocked up, which made them all giggle happily - even if both Nicky and Asriel got rice stuck to their fur.

Frisk watched them both with warm eyes, feeling so much all at once that more tears threatened her again, and she had to pretend it was a piece of rice stuck to her eyelash that made them look that way (they knew the truth, though, but let her lie).

Near the end of lunch, Nicky got a message that she was needed back at her office, and she sighed. With regret, they had to go their separate ways, but that didn't stop them all from exchanging as many hugs and kisses as possible.

It was a lunch they would remember for a very, very long time - their last peaceful respite for many weeks to come.

* * *

That night, when Undyne came home, it was to a wonderful sight: her wife and daughters in the living room, on the floor and playing with word blocks together. Both Basket and Alphys tried to spell words our for Dandelion to understand, but she kept getting too worked up and smashed her hands into them, sending them flying in different directions with peals of laughter.

For a moment, Undyne watched, her smile so wide her cheeks hurt, her eye filling with tears.

When she could, she calmed down and very purposefully closed the front door, and immediately there was a great chorus of shared shouts, the loudest from Basket. She scrambled to her feet and flew at her, grabbing Undyne into a hug so tight she stumbled and laughed, hugging back harder in reply, hard enough to lift her eldest daughter off of her feet.

Alphys scooped Dandelion up and held her, giving Undyne a warm smile, one that went straight to Undyne's heart; she dropped Basket with another laugh and went to Alphys, hugging both her and Dandelion and kissing them both, before going back to Basket and giving her a kiss.

"I missed you so fucking much, Peridot," Undyne admitted softly, giving her another crushing hug, one Basket returned with almost the same fervour. "I'm so glad you're home. I just wish it was in better circumstances."

"Me, too," Basket admitted, closing her eyes for a moment, unable to suppress a sniffle.

But then, her eyes opened, and a hard sheen came to them. "But we're going to _make_ them better, Mommy," she growled. "We will. We're _monsters_. We never, _ever_ give up."

For a moment, Undyne pulled back and stared at Basket, speechless. She touched her daughter's face, feeling such intense pride for her that those damned tears returned, and she blinked hard to keep them back.

Basket stared back at her, that glint still in her eyes, her mouth set in a stubborn line, and Undyne hugged her again tight.

Alphys gently broke in. "I-I thought, with Bassy home, she could decide what to eat tonight."

Undyne and Basket broke apart, wearing the same wide grin.

"That sounds amazing, Mummy!" Basket agreed with a clap of her hands.

Dandelion promptly copied with a happy sound - which in turn broke any remaining tension left from the situation between them for the moment. With that, the four decided to momentarily forget the dark haze that threatened to hang over them, and instead allow the bright veneer of celebration enclose them.

The night was their own; tomorrow would be spent with the others, to celebrate Basket's homecoming. But tonight, this night, was for them alone, and they intended to enjoy it to the very last drop.

They, above all, would need it.

* * *

That night, this time in her own apartment, Nickname had a dream.

She had many dreams, often vapours of things that either had come to pass or would eventually come to pass and she'd connect them later - yet another side-effect of being half-monster. These dreams were usually rather benign in nature, often something as simple as the kind of coffee she'd have or what kind of weather it would be or what she would be wearing when something was said to her. Sometimes, they were completely direct, and other times were presented in metaphors or symbolism, with no pattern or reason to either. 

It was rather annoying, but over the years, she'd come to accept it as part of her inheritance and had grown - somewhat - used to it.

But that night, there was nothing benign about what she saw. And the worst of it was that there was nothing laid out plainly for her. All she could see were seconds-long flashes, things she couldn't understand, though she knew that understanding was the most important part.

She knew she _had_ to understand, because her power was telling her something she desperately needed to know, something she needed to be warned about.

Only it lacked the proper sense to do so.

This is what she saw.

_There were vials, multi-coloured and bright, of something neither liquid nor gaseous._

_There was a man she recognised to be Carlson, though he looked confident and spry, not at all the old man one would expect him to be. He was smiling, but she didn't know why._

_She heard two gunshots, saw flashes of bright blue, and eyes that were as dark as midnight, though they shone with confidence and revenge._

_Her mother holding a gun, looking as though the very act hurt her, but her finger was depressed on the trigger, and she was about to fire._

_Another pair of eyes, painfully familiar but so hard to place, going grey with the kind of death that only monsters faced, before they closed and surrendered to that death._

_And the last thing she saw, the one that haunted her the most: Carlson being knocked down, over and over, in what should have been a death blow - only to stand up as if unharmed, and laugh and laugh, as though something was deeply funny, but all that could be felt was that smothering fear._

Nicky woke up slowly, clawing her way mentally out of the murk of those images.

Hurriedly, she grabbed the pen and paper she kept at her bedside for this very reason and scribbled it all down as best as she could before she forgot, her hands trembling and her heart racing so hard it hurt.

When she was done, she read over what she had written, but none of it made any sense - none of it at all.

She checked the time. It was 04:53, far too early to try and contact anyone.

She held the notepad to her chest, knowing that she would never be able to get back to sleep, now. Instead, she shook, trying to make sense of what she had seen.

Because deep in her blood, she knew that if she didn't, something terrible would happen - and she wouldn't be able to stop it.


	5. And I’ve Seen It In The Flights Of Birds; I’ve Seen It In You

The following morning, Alphys woke to a text so early that Undyne was still asleep beside her.

Undyne growled and reached for the phone to destroy it, but Alphys managed to grab it before she could, gently pushing her back into bed for the remaining hours of sleep she still had before she truly had to get up for school.

Bemused, Alphys opened the text and read it.

_"Dr Alphys, did you recently authorise the movement of a few of the samples of DT from Lab 7?"_

Rubbing her eyes and grabbing her glasses, Alphys sat up and read it again, unsure if she was even reading it right in the first place. But, no: it definitely said what she thought it said, and it was from one of her co-workers in the biology lab at the hospital.

_"No, not at all. I'm still on leave, and haven't done anything since I was put on bedrest. Are you certain that they're not in Lab 7? They were important samples."_

_"Positive, Dr. It's why I contacted you so early. They're not here, and there's no log or paper trail explaining why not. I was hoping you'd know. I'll ask the others. Should I get back to you once I know either way?"_

Alphys stared at the screen, a small sliver of worry filling her. _"YES. No matter what the time, immediately, TELL ME AS SOON AS YOU KNOW ANYTHING. TY."_

She lowered the phone and stared at it, her hands shaking.

That DT was important, the kind that they had spend years working on. It was harvested from living humans, volunteers that wanted to help the science of soul research and were willing to take the risks involved. Luckily, they had been unharmed - if a little fatigued - but those samples had been so important, so detrimental to the research, because no one, not even Alphys, had ever worked with adult DT before.

It was carefully guarded, carefully worked with, and therefore, to find it suddenly moved was very, very troubling, indeed.

Adult DT was interesting. It was harder to work with than child DT, less malleable and more intense. Alphys nor her coworkers could figure out why, and years of testing had yet to show any real conclusions.

It was a study she was eager to work on again once Dandelion was old enough for school, one she sometimes found herself thinking about when she couldn't sleep.

This was troubling. _Very_ troubling.

A hand on her knee startled her out of her reverie, and she turned to find Undyne looking up at her sleepily, her eye concerned.

"Alphy," she murmured, "what's wrong? You're so pale. You look scared."

Alphys fumbled with her phone, biting her lip. "It-it was work," she admitted, though the urge to lie about it was strong - an urge she hadn't felt in a very long time. "Th-there's a problem w-with the DT research."

Undyne sat up slowly, the sleep chased away with those few sentences. Her eye stared into Alphys's.

A dozen thoughts flew between them then, memories decades old, of fear and last resorts, of the one thing Alphys truly regretted the most, out of all of her DT research.

Absently, Undyne's hand went to her upper arm and rubbed slowly, but her eye narrowed, a sheen of steel coming to them.

"What _kind_ of problem?" she asked softly.

"Th-they've misplaced some of the s-samples," Alphys admitted, placing her hand over Undyne's absently, gently. "B-but I'm sure it-it's just some kind of clerical error. Th-they said they'd l-let me know."

Undyne searched her face closely; it certainly looked as if Alphys wasn't sure that they would find those samples, but that didn't mean she was ready to catastrophise yet. It was a good sign, and Undyne took Alphys's hand between her own and squeezed it gently.

"Then let's worry about that when we need to," she advised.

Alphys looked at her, looking both guilty and worried, especially when her eyes trailed back down to Undyne's arm, but Undyne reached up and tilted her chin back up so that she looked her in the face instead.

"Alphy."

"Y-yes," Alphys agreed softly, nodding. "O-okay."

Undyne pulled her into a hug, and together they lay back down to try and at least rest until they needed to get up for the day.

It was easy for Undyne, as she was always a fast sleeper, but Alphys lay awake, her eyes wide open, her thoughts far away, both in the present and the past.

* * *

 Nicky was sitting in her small kitchen, nursing a cup of strong coffee, when at exactly 06:00, her doorbell rang.

For about half a minute, she was confused, until she actually thought about it and sighed, unable to help a small smile from gracing her lips. Slowly, she walked to the door and opened it, and there stood sans, exactly who she had expected to see.

"Hey, Uncle sans," she greeted warmly, hugging him gently. He surprised her by returning it tighter, almost knocking her breathless.

"nick," he said, once he pulled away, his eyes on hers and serious - a rare thing for her to see. "what did you see?"

Nicky stared at him, instantly speechless.

Silently, she led him into the apartment, and he walked in, his hands now limp at his sides. She gestured for him to sit down at the small table where she had sat, poring over the notes she had made over an hour before. She sat down with him and shoved the notepad to him.

She didn't bother to ask; very early on in her life, she learnt that questioning how sans knew _anything_ was a waste of breath at times.

When he eyed the notes slowly, she broke the silence with, "I might have some ketchup, if you'd like some."

sans looked up at her in surprise, then finally smiled at her, nodding. "that would be nice, nick. thanks."

She got up and went to the fridge as he read over her notes again. Though her words were slightly lopsided and hastily scribbled, sans could read them quite clearly. She had added some notes below the first set, as if trying to work it all out, but they all led to the same conclusion, one she underlined twice:

_ "NONE OF THIS MAKES ANY SENSE." _

The problem was that, for sans, it actually was now starting to make some sense to him. And he liked it even less than ever before.

Nicky returned with a half-full bottle of ketchup and a mug, her eyes tired but very sharp.

She said, when she sat down, "Before you _say_ anything, how did you know I'd _seen_ something, Uncle?"

sans smiled at her wryly. "you're a lot like your mother, did you know that?" he replied, opening the ketchup and pouring some into the mug.

That oddly struck a chord of pride within her, but she would not be deterred. "Well?"

sans sighed. "i just _knew_ , nick. there's no other way to put it. it's just how it is."

It made sense to her, strangely enough. She understood what it was like to have a power and not have it obey you, especially when you needed it to the most.

She nodded slowly, hoping he'd continue.

He hesitated, taking a long gulp of ketchup, before he actually did. "carlson is gonna get out, nick. you know that, right?"

Nickey felt cold fear fill her, but she nodded again.

She knew.

There was no other outcome to the problem, no matter how optimistic everyone seemed to want to be. Carlson had too many fingers in too many pies and too much money in those pies to stay behind bars - especially after this long.

"well, with that, i'm also pretty sure someone is... gonna... die." sans said it flatly, his eyes dim and staring at the mug, as if hoping to find answers within it.

Nicky's hands began to tremble, and she clutched her own mug tight.

 _Those eyes,_ she thought fearfully, remembering the pair of eyes that were going grey with dust and death. Again, she struggled to place them, to try and remember whose they were.

She knew them, but  _whose?_

"your vision confirms that," sans was saying. "it also suggests dt."

Nicky's head shot up, confused. "DT? You mean, determination? Harvested from humans?"

sans nodded, pointing to the first line on the list. "the vials. that fits the description of dt almost perfectly."

His eyes narrowed, his bony hand rubbing his jaw slowly. "but that set of eyes, the black eyes? that makes no sense to me. and your mother and the gun..."

He looked up at her. " _that_ scares me, nickname."

Nicky swallowed hard. "Me, too," she admitted softly, her voice strained. "I don't want Mami to shoot _anyone."_

"if she did, it would kill her, too," sans agreed. "that's something we need to avoid. those dying eyes..." Again he pointed to the second-last line. "you're certain they're monster eyes?"

She nodded. She was without any doubt in that regard. There wasn't a human in the entire world whose eyes could look like that, even in death.

"But I don't know _who_ it is," she admitted regretfully. "I wish I did."

"me, too," sans agreed with a long sigh. "we've had enough hardship in our little family to last several lifetimes."

A small silence fell over the two at that, both consumed with painful memories.

Then, sans said, "can i take a picture of this? so i can have it with me?"

Nicky blinked. "Of course. I think it would help."

sans took out his phone and snapped a couple of pictures of the sheet of paper, even including Nicky's frustrated attempts at deciphering them.

Then, with a final swig of the ketchup, he stood up slowly and said, "i need to talk to your parents about this, kiddo. will you be alright?"

Nicky nodded, smiling faintly. "I have to be. It's my job. But, Uncle?" She frowned. "Please, tell me if any of it makes sense. So I can understand, too - and _do_ something about it."

He gently touched her head, between her horns, very gently. "of course, nick."

She stood up and walked him out with a final hug, before shutting the door, going back to the table, and resuming her meditations over the notes, feeling far more afraid than she ever thought possible.

* * *

Asriel woke up to the alarm, the kind of waking that came only with loss of sleep, the shaky, heavy exhaustion of not enough of it. He slammed his fist onto the clock radio and silenced it, but it was too late; they were both awake now.

Frisk was also shaky, similarly affected. Slowly, she turned to him and hugged him to her for a moment, and he melted into it.

Once Nicky had left, and her parents were left on their own and to their own jobs, both found themselves coming to the same conclusion over the span of the afternoon: there was truly nothing they could do to prevent Carlson's release. When they got home, after they got confirmation that Basket was home and safe, they had huddled on the couch and tried to pretend that what _was_ going to happen _wouldn't_ \- to no success.

And that night, they lay in each other's arms, eyes open but not speaking, the fear so thick they could feel it upon them heavier than any duvet could be.

"Frisk," Asriel whispered now into her hair, holding her closer.

Frisk burrowed her face into his neck, closing her eyes and digging her fingers into his back. He closed his eyes and held her as close as he could, gritting his teeth against the pain he felt deep within his soul.

"Asriel," she murmured into his skin. "We _can_ do this. We _will_ do this. He may be back in our lives soon, but we have what he does not _: tried and true determination."_

Asriel felt his eyes burn at that, and he closed them, inhaling her comforting scent slowly. He wanted to believe her so badly, but everything in his instinct told him that he had to keep his guard up.

"I know, but..."

Frisk shook her head. "No," she said sharply _. "We_ _will._ _He_ will _not_ touch this family again, Asriel, my love. _He will not."_

Asriel kissed her softly on the top of her head, the tears falling free, and he held her so tight they both shook.

Frisk kept her eyes closed, her own tears threatening to spill, but she swallowed them. She knew Asriel needed her strength right now, so strong she would be.

"We need to keep _living_ , my love," she whispered. "If we slink around in fear, he's already won without having to do a darned thing. And I'm _not_ a loser, Asriel."

"No," he agreed tearfully. "You definitely are not."

"I need you at my side, Asriel."

"You have me. Always, Frisk. _Always."_

Frisk raised her head slowly, reaching up with both hands and cupping his face into them.

He stared at her, stared into her beautiful eyes, the eyes that always seemed to sparkle just for him, and he kissed her. She returned it, her arms slowly going around his waist, and he deepened it, pulling her closer as he lay down onto his back, pulling her atop of him. She straddled him and whispered his name against his lips, reaching down to undress him.

For a sweet, sleepy moment, they allowed themselves this one respite that would always truly be their own.

* * *

Basket woke up to the sound of Dandelion crying. She slipped out of the fold-out bed and went to her old room, now Dandelion's, and reached her before Alphys did.

Dandelion was standing in her crib, looking cranky and hungry, but the moment her sharp eyes fell on her sister, her expression changed immediately to interest, and she wiggled a little in her surprise. Basket laughed and scooped her up into her arms, holding her close, and Dandelion made a happy noise and immediately reached for Basket's glasses with a grin.

Alphys walked into the room shortly after, rubbing her eyes, only to blink in surprise to find Basket already there.

"Bassy?" she said. "Why are you up so early? I was coming to get her."

"I know," Basket admitted with a smile. "But I thought I'd give you a break. If you want, you can have a long shower and I'll take care of her until she needs to be fed."

Alphys's face went red with gratitude, and she latched onto Basket tight with a grateful hug.

Basket laughed; it was how Alphys had always responded when she was recovering and was offered any kind of help.

With a kiss to Basket's nose, she went back to the bedroom, where Undyne lay sleeping, still. Basket bounced her little sister until she got a giggle, then moved to change her.

Alphys showered at a moderate speed, but nowhere near the usual fast past she usually did in the morning, and without Dandelion in the room with her, it felt oddly quiet and peaceful. Her heart felt so warm at that moment, so grateful for Basket, and so happy that they were all together again. She knew Basket couldn't live here with them anymore - the house was too small and didn't have enough room.

Besides, Basket was an adult, and one in a relationship, as well. She needed a place of her own.

But for the moment, at this moment, Alphys was so happy that she hummed in the shower, barely realising she did so.

It woke Undyne, those lopsided hums, and she smiled slowly, sitting up and turning the alarm off before it could start. She sat in bed for a moment, rubbing her eye and listening to her wife sounding the happiest she'd ever sounded in almost years.

It was so easy to forget the pall of foreboding hovering over them with moments like these.

On impulse, Undyne leapt up from the bed and threw her tank top and shorts off, then raced into the bathroom.

When she threw the shower curtain open, Alphys jumped and squeaked so loud it made Undyne laugh. The moment their eyes met, however, Alphys's eyes warmed into the look Undyne loved so much, and without another word, Undyne joined her in the shower, closing the curtain behind her.

* * *

 Basket was playing with Dandelion on the floor of the living room when her mothers joined them, both looking clean, dressed, and overjoyed, though clearly it was something only they shared.

Basket had an inkling, and she blushed a little, but she also grinned, because it was always wonderful to see that, no matter how much time passed, her mothers still loved and adored each other to the point of being almost as gross as teenagers.

Basket wondered, oddly, if _she_ could be that happy with _Olceal_ , if she was lucky enough to keep that love burning. She loved him so very much - very, very much - and knew he loved her, too. But sometimes she wondered just how much he did, especially when it came to how Basket felt for Nickname - past and present. 

Yet despite that, Basket still felt deepest for Olceal, and wondered (okay, hoped) that he felt the same deep kind that consumed her.

She _wanted_ him to, so very dearly, because she wanted to...

Undyne sat down next to her, breaking her out of her reverie. "Morning, my lovely daughters!" she said happily, giving Basket a hug and Dandelion a kiss on her nose.

Alphys sat down beside her, and immediately Dandelion lit up and crawled into Alphys's lap, clinging onto her like a barnacle.

Both Basket and Undyne laughed at this, and Alphys blushed shyly; it was always a strange thing to realise just how much Dandelion adored Alphys, no matter how many times something like this happened.

Dandelion looked up at Alphys with a happy grin, then headbutted her chin, which made them all laugh that time.

"Hungry, my Dandy?" Alphys wondered gently, and Dandelion, in reply, merely gave her another headbutt. When Alphys took hold of her and lay her down in her arms, Dandelion immediately touched the front of her shirt, and Alphys smiled warmly at her.

"Speaking of breakfast," Undyne said teasingly, as Alphys fed Dandelion, "what did you want to have, Bassy? I can cook something."

Both her wife and eldest daughter stared at her with the same expression, and she scowled.

"I know how to cook safely from a _package!"_ she insisted. 

"Do we have time?" Basket wondered.

Undyne checked. "Yeah, I've got some spare time. We got up earlier than usual." She jumped to her feet and grinned. "Peridot, come help me."

"Yes, do," Alphys agreed with a sly grin. "Make sure she doesn't burn anything."

Undyne sighed, but Basket agreed with a giggle.

Together, arm in arm, Undyne and Basket went to the kitchen, Undyne grumbling that she _knew_ how to cook, but Basket merely laughed in reply.

Alphys stayed on the floor, closing her eyes and allowing the peaceful respite between her and Dandelion enclose her, rocking her baby gently as she did. The sounds of scuffling and cackling came from the kitchen, and she let it wash over her like warm, soothing balm, and she had never felt so happy in so long that it almost hurt.

Alphys then had the strangest thought that nothing, truly nothing, could be as sweet as this moment, right now, ever again.

But when Dandelion was finished and back in her arms, she let the thought slip from her mind. She knew there were still so many years ahead of her to enjoy - and she fully intended to do so, no matter what happened next week.

If anything, the events of next week would only serve to keep her focused on that goal of happiness.

* * *

 When Asriel and Frisk walked into the kitchen, they found sans sitting there reading the paper.

They both sighed, exchanging the same look.

"Bastard, I thought you figured out how to knock," Asriel grumbled, going to the coffee maker.

Frisk walked over and sat down beside sans, grabbing the paper from him with a smirk. She was greeted in return with a smile - but she noticed it was clearly strained.

"i still know how," sans agreed. "but i was lazy today."

"Oh?" Frisk blinked at him, her chin in her hand. "And why is that?"

He hesitated. "coffee, first, maybe?" he offered.

"Nope," Asriel snapped. "You home-invade, you explain the reason, or I'll make you reverse your invasion."

"ever the cheerful host, weed."

Asriel glowered at him, a look that promised lots of fire and possibly a lap full of scalding coffee, and sans got the message.

"i'll be blunt, then: there's not a snowpoff's chance in hotland that carlson will stay in jail."

Frisk shut her eyes, and Asriel hunched over the coffee maker a little.

"Yeah," Frisk said softly, her eyes dark. "We know."

"there's more, though," sans admitted, his eyes darkening and his smile fading. "i saw nick this morning. she... she's had a dream."

Asriel turned away from the coffee machine immediately and sat down beside his wife, who was staring at sans with shock.

They _both_ knew of their daughter's power, but they also knew that it was so minute that it rarely warranted a visit from sans - especially this early in the morning.

sans seemed to know this, so he pulled out his phone and pulled the picture of her notes up, placing it on the table for them both to read _. "this_ is what she saw."

They read the notes, and slowly, their hands met, holding tight. Though they both wanted to agree with Nicky's final assessment that none of it made sense, some of it _did_ , and neither of them liked it - especially Frisk.

"Me, with a gun, about to shoot?" she said, her eyes wide. "Where would I even _get_ one, let alone _shoot_ it? It's not like you can buy them, and I'm not into illegal activity, thank you."

"the thing is, though," sans said, his voice strangely hollow. "is that we all know that nick's power isn't wrong. if she sees it, it happens, even if it's as simple as someone farting in an elevator. this is the first time she's seen something this serious. it's gonna happen. we just need to make sure we're ready - and that we can either stop it, or be ready to correct it."

Asriel's hand was shaking within Frisk's, his eyes glued to the phone. He sank his fangs into his lip, trying not to cry. He felt so many things: regret that Nicky had seen these horrible things, fear that they could possibly come true, and the fact that they were about to face danger yet again - and they couldn't avoid it.

"someone is gonna die," sans then added, his voice so soft it surprised them. "and it's a monster."

Frisk stared at him, her lips quivering. "We can't let that happen."

"and i agree, and propose we do everything we can to stop it," sans said. "but... if she saw it, frisk, it's _gonna_  happen."

"Who?" Asriel asked, his voice small. "Who will die?"

"nick said she recognised the eyes, but couldn't place them. it's someone we know, and a monster."

Frisk slammed her other fist onto the table, so hard that the phone rattled and it made Asriel and sans jump.

Her eyes blazed, her face furious. "No. _Dammit, no!_ This is _not_ gonna happen, sans! I'm _not_ gonna use a gun, and _no one is going to die!"_

Her voice broke, and for a moment, no one said a word.

sans was quiet, looking at her with such a sad expression that it made her angrier.

"denial isn't going to get us anywhere," he said. "we need to be ready. we need to be ready for the possibility that one of us will die, and that we can't prevent it."

 _"No!"_ Frisk practically screamed it, letting go of Asriel's hand and standing up. "No, sans! I _won't!_ We make our own fates, we make our own lives! We _always_ have the option to fight or flee! If it means we're cowards, we flee, and _no one will have to die!"_

sans winced, her anger always painful to him, and he lowered his head, unable to look at her anymore.

The rage in her voice was not specifically because of him; rather, because she knew that what he said was nothing but true, and that there was no chance they could avoid this fate.

Nicky was a hybrid with determination on both sides and a monster's power of intuition. Her power had never shown this kind of strength before, but now that it had, it could not be ignored. They _had_ to listen.

And that's what made Frisk so angry.

Asriel took her hand again, pulling her back down. "Frisk," he whispered. "He's right, Frisk. Breathe, okay?"

She _did_ look pale, her other hand now at her chest and rubbing at her scar slowly, her eyes blazing so hot they seemed scorching.

"Please, my love," Asriel added, his voice gentle. "There's always a chance that it could mean that whoever it is _may_ end up dying, but that doesn't mean they will _stay_ dead."

Frisk glared at him. "No one can be brought back to life, Asriel!"

Both Asriel and sans stared at her in surprise at this.

She froze, about to snarl again, but then realised what she had just said, and went bright red in sudden realisation.

She blinked. "Oh," she whispered. "Oh, golly. You're right."

She covered her face with her hands, feeling like such a fool. _She_ , of all people, should have made that connection, first.

"there's _always_ a chance," sans said gently, placing a hand on her arm lightly. "always. we can't lose hope, even if it seems as if hope is the one who has abandoned us."

It was a strangely poetic thing for him so say, but it also comforted Frisk very much. She looked up at him, and he smiled faintly, nodding.

Asriel rubbed her back slowly, clearly agreeing with sans.

"So," she said now, her voice softer. "How _do_ we prepare for such a thing?"

sans pulled his hand away and picked up his phone, closing the pictures and bringing up the browser, typing in a few things before he found what he wanted.

"oh. alright, so they've definitely agreed that carlson will get a hearing, and it will be next week." He looked up. "a week from today."

"That's not a lot of time," Asriel admitted.

"No," Frisk agreed. "But we'll make it enough. We have to. It's all we've got."


	6. But I Know It'll Have To Drown Me

The week went by so fast it was almost unbelievable.

Everyone wished there was some way to slow it down, to make those last days of presumed peace last longer. They were sweet days, spent together as much as possible, but for everyone, there simply weren't enough.

* * *

Basket and Olceal stayed with their parents for about half of that time, Basket sometimes staying over at Olceal's mother's (but never vice-versa; they didn't want to confuse or overstimulate Dandelion).

It was on the fourth day that Basket announced that she'd managed to find a place that was taking tenants right away, and it was sandwiched in the middle of where Olceal's mother was and where Alphys and Undyne were. It was a small place, a bachelor apartment in a small building, but for the moment, it was all the two really needed, and they took it.

Since they already travelled light, it only took them two full days to move completely in.

* * *

 That first evening, two days before the hearing, still surrounded by a Stonehenge of box stacks but with the essentials unpacked, Basket and Olceal stood in the middle of it, the bed and dresser pushed on one side of the decent-sized room, the couch and TV set up on the other, and smiled at each other.

"Not a bad start, eh, Olly?" Basket said cheerfully.

By then, they'd of course grown used to living together, since they'd done so in Australia for well over a year, but there was something different about this. For one, it actually was bigger than the place they had stayed in, before, which was amusing to them.

Yet there was something more intimate about this place, and Basket figured that it was because it was at home, in their home city, where they were both born and grew up, that made it so special.

Silently, in reply, Olceal closed the distance and hugged her tight. She clung to him eagerly, closing her eyes and burying her face into his soft neck like she always did. She loved his scent, something earthy and warm but always comforting, and for her it was a different kind of home.

Olceal sighed against her, resting his head on top of hers, his hand stroking her short hair slowly and a little awkwardly (he wasn't very good at that, yet, no matter how many times she'd tried to teach him how to, but she didn't mind. The attempt was enough for her), his other hand at her back, between her shoulder blades.

"Not bad at all, Bass," he agreed softly. There was a pause, before he suddenly added, a trace shyly, "So... can you tell me the thing, now?"

Basket's eyes snapped open, heat flashing through her body and especially in her cheeks. "E-er," she stammered, because he was actually right; this was actually the perfect time and the perfect place to say what she had been meaning to say.

"I-I..." She swallowed, her nails digging into his back a little, trying to hide their shaking. "It-it's..."

"Sorry," Olceal broke in, when she trailed off. "I don't mean to push, but..." He pulled away and smiled awkwardly. "It's been driving me crazy!"

She pulled free from the embrace, her hands immediately fumbling with the ring on her index finger, a ring she'd worn every single day for almost four years, now - ever since Olceal had given it, and his love, to her.

She stared at him, her face feeling like it was on fire. "I-I... Olceal..." She looked down at her feet. "Y-you know I l-love you, r-right?"

Olceal smiled, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Yeah. And you know I love you, too, right?"

She smiled faintly, the words warming her heart. "Y-yeah," she agreed, her voice soft. "I-I feel... I f-feel so l-lucky that you do..."

Her face fell. "I-I know w-we got off to a bad start," she began, and once she started, she now couldn't stop; she'd inherited Alphys's 'word-vomit' gene. "B-but that start was something I'm glad got started; even though it sucked, it became something wonderful in spite of it, and with all that's happened and with all that's probably _gonna_ happen, I _know_ this is really a stupid thing of me to want and feel, and I feel like such an _asshole_ for feeling this way but I can't help it, and..."

She paused to take a deep breath, her hands shaking so hard that they got tangled together. She looked up at him, her eyes wide, and he froze, staring back at her. He'd never seen her look like that at him before, and his heart began to race, suddenly.

"I-I love you so much, Olly. So-so much. I-I think we're amazing together and I think we should always be together and I want... I want to..." She gritted her teeth, then just spat it out, "We should get married, okay?!"

Olceal jolted as though she'd just punched him in the gut. His eyes went huge, and his nose actually twitched in his shock. His grip on her shoulders, however, tightened, and she even felt a bit of claw, but she didn't pull away. She glared at him, her teeth bared and her eyes blazing, her hands still mangled in front of her, and her tail was rigid with both nervousness and anticipation.

Finally, he said, his voice tiny, "Fucking _hell_ , Basket. You couldn't have _waited_ at least a month or two until our anniversary?!"

The blood drained from her face, fear making her whole body feel like she'd just swallowed liquid ice. She opened her mouth, but the only thing that came out was a small, pathetic, "Er?"

Olceal rolled his eyes and pulled his hands away, growling and storming over to one of the towers of boxes. With rough movements, he tossed a few aside, grabbed one, and opened it.

After a moment of rummaging, he pulled out a small box, opened it, and stormed back over to her. She watched his every move, still encased in that terrified ice.

Then, he sighed, looking grumpy, knelt down in front of her, and opened the small box, glaring up at her.

In it was a ring, of stainless steel, with two stones embedded in a sideways infinity sign: peridot and amethyst: their favourite stones.

"Impatient _brat,"_ he said at last.

Then he smiled at her, his eyes sparking, and suddenly everything in her body thawed out again and went hot.

 _"You fucking romantic asshole!"_ she snarled, lunging at him and tickling him to the ground onto his back, straddling him and kissing him so hard he lost his breath and dropped the box to grab hold of her.

"You-," she kissed him, "-stole my-," she kissed him again, "-thunder, you-," another kiss, "-stupid _stoat!"_

She then pinned him down and kissed him deeper, reaching down and yanking on his shirt, and he laughed against her lips, pulling her down closer and doing the same for her.

They didn't leave the floor for a long time, a truly strange way to break in a new home - but one that was perfect for the two of them.

* * *

That evening, Alphys, Undyne and Nicky all got the same text message from Basket:

_"OLLY AND I ARE GETTING FUCKING MARRIED AND IT'S RIDICULOUS BECAUSE THE ASSHOLE HAD IT PLANNED TOO BUT I WON BECAUSE I ASKED FIRST SO I WIN AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"_

Alphys burst into tears and clung to Undyne, who was laughing so hard she was also crying, but from laughter instead of Alphys's version, which was a mix of joy and sadness.

"Holy shit!" Undyne gasped out, lying back on the couch and laughing so hard the tears ran down her face.

Alphys lay down next to her and buried her face into her wife's shoulder, clinging to her and sobbing hard, her claws digging into her upper arms, and Undyne held her close, rubbing the back of her neck as she tried to stop laughing.

Dandelion, from her place on the floor, looked up curiously and decided to laugh, too, then stopped when she looked at Alphys. Her brow furrowed and she crawled over, grabbing onto Alphys's leg and pulling gently, making worried noises.

Still sobbing, Alphys sat up, pulled Dandelion into her arms, and curled up on the couch with her. Dandelion stared up at her, still looking rather concerned, her small hands reaching up and grabbing onto Alphys's face so hard it startled her, and she actually managed to stop for a moment. Dandelion seemed rather focused, now, and she squeezed Alphys's cheeks, feeling her tears and frowning even more. Alphys stared at her, gulping a little and sniffling, and Dandelion's sharp eyes stared into hers.

Undyne watched them from her reclining place on the couch, her laughter dying down, her hand at her side, the other now resting on Alphys's back and rubbing slowly. Alphys looked over at her, and she smiled gently at her.

"Oh, Alphy," she said softly, hiccuping a little. "You knew it was gonna happen eventually, didn't you?"

"No!" Alphys sobbed.

Dandelion's hand squished her cheeks together suddenly, and she blinked in surprise, her tears suddenly freezing before they could start again. At her mum's expression, Dandelion suddenly giggled in delight, and Alphys felt herself relax a little.

"Olceal is a good kid, Alphy," Undyne said gently, her hand still gentle. "He's taken such good care of her, and she's taken good care of him. They're already such great partners. It just makes sense. Plus, holy shit," she laughed. "Peridot is _hilarious_. Of _course_ she'd make it a competition."

"She's my baby..." Alphys protested softly, her words a little muffled by Dandelion's hands.

"And she always will be," Undyne agreed. "Nothing will ever change that."

When Alphys was silent, Undyne sat up slowly and threw her arms around both her wife and her daughter, kissing them both. Alphys put one arm around Undyne in return, the other still holding Dandelion.

"This is a good thing, my love," Undyne murmured, and Alphys closed her eyes, biting her lip. "A wonderful thing in the midst of all of this horrible crap."

Alphys nodded slowly; it was true.

"And once it all dies down, we're going to have the best wedding for our Peridot that we'll forget that crap ever happened. Sound good?"

Alphys nodded again, leaning against Undyne. Dandelion's hands let go of her cheeks and went to Undyne's arm, and in their own little nested way, they stayed that way.

The best kind of hug.

* * *

Nickname stared at her phone and started crying, too, but she was grinning from ear to ear, her hand tangling into her bangs in her surprise. Her heart felt so warm, so happy, that she wanted to get up and run to Basket's new apartment and just hug them both until they were blue in the face.

But then, she realised if she did, she would probably be interrupting them, so she decided to save that for the next day.

But oh, she was so happy for Basket and Olceal. She had watched that romance bloom from the start, watched it grow from high school crush to deep, adult love, and she was so proud of them both. They were young, yes, but they were also incredibly mature for their age, especially Basket. She wasn't worried about them at all.

There was a small part of herself, one that she'd never known to exist, that awoke inside of her heart when she fully absorbed the fact that Basket and Olceal were going to wed. She didn't feel it, least of all hear it, and it would take her years to learn to how do so.

Once she did, she was never the same. Ever.

That time was not now, not for years. But it _would_ come. 

And she wouldn't be ready for it, especially when it did - and why.

For now, however, she looked forward to this joyful respite once the chaos was over. She knew they would all need it.

* * *

Two days later, Frisk woke up before dawn. She slipped from the bed, careful not to wake Asriel as she did, and she pulled her robe on and escaped to the balcony, trembling from both lack of sleep and nervousness.

_This is it. This is the day._

_And I'm absolutely terrified._

She leaned against the railing of the balcony, eyeing the skyline before her as the sky slowly but surely began to lighten up. She still trembled, biting her nails, a habit she hadn't submitted to in many, many years.

In all of her years as Ambassador, exposed to politics at such a young age, nothing could ever have prepare her for this. She felt _none_ of the practised and cultivated calm that came with being an Ambassador, one that was absolutely core to her profession.

Instead, she felt like that scared ten-year-old, running away from her foster home, following the voice of her long-dead great-aunt to the place that would change her forever.

Only there was no voice to speak to her and show her the way to go, now. There was no place for her to even go in order for her life to change into something challenging but precious.

All she could see ahead of her was fear, a kind that she couldn't predict or puzzle out. She thought she was a master of puzzles, but this one appeared to already be the master of her.

And it _infuriated_ her.

Hot, angry tears filled her eyes, and she rubbed them away with the heel of her hand, her teeth clenched together.

She _couldn't_ let Carlson win already, before the hearing had even begun, but here she was, cowering in her own home, already defeated to tears. She shut her eyes and lowered her head, her hand tangling into her already-knotted hair.

Suddenly, she heard the door slide open behind her, and soon she felt Asriel's arms go around her waist, his face burying into the back of her neck, his eyes closed. He hated heights, so he didn't look down, but that didn't stop him from holding onto her tight.

"Asriel," she whispered. "Go back to sleep, my love."

He shook his head slowly. "Not without you," he answered, just as softly.

"I can't sleep," she admitted. "Not anymore. I'm... too scared."

Asriel nodded. "Me, too."

"He's going to come after us, Asriel," she whispered, her hands clinging onto his arms hard, and he held her tighter, burying his face into her neck, his eyes still closed. "I don't know if I'm strong enough..."

"You are," he corrected. "But you're also not alone."

Frisk turned around and clung onto him, burying his face into her shoulder so that he wouldn't see the height, and he held her. When she started to sniffle, he gritted his teeth and tried to smother his own tears, but failed.

"Come on," he whispered, his voice wavering.

She nodded, and they went back into the apartment, sitting down on the couch and cuddling together, both overcome.

But they both knew it was better to face this moment of weakness now, than have it hit them when they needed to be at their strongest.

* * *

They all sat together, taking up almost two full rows. The entire room was full of their supporters, and there were even protesters lined up outside of the building on their very same side.

When Carlson came out and sat down, Frisk was surprised by how _old_ he looked. He certainly _looked_ his age - at least in his sixties, by now - and looked as if his time in prison had not been spent easily.

For a moment, Frisk wondered if, perhaps, Carlson really _had_ served his time, and had actually earned this freedom that he was surely going to get.

But then, their eyes met across the room, and she felt a sudden jolt of foreboding hit her so hard she started in her seat. His eyes were _anything_ but beaten, the light within them still bright and strong - with arrogance. His expression did not change, but she suddenly knew that, inwardly, he was laughing at her. She swallowed, struggling to keep her own expression calm, but she trembled, unable to control it.

Asriel held her hand tight, glaring at Carlson furiously, also able to tell and having no problem whatsoever showing it. He never did; that was just he was.

Carlson glanced briefly at him, seemed to almost shrug, then returned that glance to Frisk, who now could not look away.

The judge read over the crimes Carlson was convicted of. Beside her, several of her friends winced, and on her other side, Nicky squeezed her hand, glancing at her and biting her lip.

There was a momentary pause, one that Frisk could tell had everyone - including herself - holding their breaths.

But all of it was wasted.

As predicted, Carlson was granted release, placed on parole for five years.

He was forbidden to go anywhere near Frisk, her family, or any of her friends, extending to any kind of contact, even if through other people, for the rest of his life. If he violated that, he would return to jail with no chance of parole for another fifteen years. He promised he would not, and had the audacity to look so sincere while saying it.

Yet Frisk could tell: he was lying, and lying happily, making a mockery of the very system that was granting him something he didn't even deserve.

sans stood up and left the moment Carlson began to reply, shocking everyone. Without hesitation, Papyrus stood up and followed him, but no one else did.

Carlson watched them go, but didn't appear to react.

What was done was done. Carlson was free.

And Frisk felt as if _she_ were the one imprisoned.

* * *

Outside, sans and Papyrus slipped their way through the crowds as best as they could, neither saying a word or looking at any camera. sans veered sharply to the side, his brother following close behind, and they reached a patch behind the building that was blessedly free of prying eyes and sharp ears.

Sans stopped, then, facing the wall of the building, his entire body shaking. One eye was dark, and the other was blazing, but Papyrus would not be scared away. Gently, he placed his gloved hand on his brother's trembling shoulder, but Sans didn't turn away or calm down.

"SANS," he said softly, squeezing Sans's shoulder. Sans almost jerked away, but didn't, knowing that to take his rage out on his brother would only hurt him, and the last thing he wanted was to hurt him. "YOU KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN. WE ALL DID."

"It makes it no easier," Sans answered sharply, his voice so low it was more felt than heard. "That man should have died. That man should have rotted in that cell where he belonged. That place should have been his grave."

"THERE CAN'T BE ANY 'SHOULD HAVES' RIGHT NOW, SANS," Papyrus answered carefully. "ONLY 'WHAT NOWS'. PRINCE GARDENER TAUGHT ME THAT."

"And Asriel," said Sans, the fact that he used Asriel's name proving how furious he was. "How are we supposed to help _him_ , now? How can he cope, now, knowing that the man who tried to murder his _wife_ three times is now free?"

"HE'S NOT ALLOWED TO COME NEAR US, BROTHER," Papyrus said, almost desperately. "HE'LL GO BACK TO JAIL IF HE DOES."

"I dare him to," Sans snarled. "I _want_ him to. I want him to come near me, so I can take his soul and destroy it with my own hands, slowly, with no mercy."

"SANS," Papyrus said gently, placing his other hand on Sans's other shoulder. "FRISK WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO. YOU KNOW THAT. SHE DOESN'T WANT YOU TO HURT HIM NOT FOR _HIS_ SAKE, BUT FOR _YOURS."_

Sans was silent at that, his eyes closing, and his jaw clenched, the very thought of Frisk hurting him.

Again, he so desperately wished he could cry, and slowly, the fire in his eye died down and vanished, and when he opened them again, his eyes were normal. He turned around and faced Papyrus, who looked at him with such a sombre expression that it actually made him feel even sadder.

Wordlessly, he hugged his brother tight, grateful for him, _eternally_ grateful to have him for a brother, and one always at his side. Papyrus hugged him back just as tight, rubbing his back.

"WE'LL GET THROUGH THIS, BROTHER," Papyrus said gently. "WE JUST HAVE TO BE STRONG."

sans was silent. He wished he could be weak, and just murder the bastard and be done with it.

But Papyrus _was_ right. Often, it took far more strength to be peaceful.

He just hoped he could find that strength when he needed it most.


	7. Oh The River, Oh The River, It’s Running Free

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For whatever reason, these chapters are just flying out of my brain really quickly. I'm just as surprised as all of you (if indeed you all are). At this rate, this fic will be done before the long weekend is o_o. That being said, please do keep commenting! I love the feedback and have been taking every single comment seriously and sincerely! <3

Frisk didn't remember the trip to New New Home, but she seemed to be able to wake up from whatever daze she was in when she found herself being hugged by her mother. She stood there, being held, feeling Toriel stroking her hair and holding her close, and slowly that numbness began to fade, only to be replaced by painful feeling, like pins and needles. Her eyes closed, and she rested her head on Toriel's shoulder, her arms going around her and holding tight.

"My girl," Toriel murmured gently, and suddenly Frisk was completely thawed, feeling almost too much, and she sobbed, once, clinging to her mother like she was ten again, like she was about to leave the Ruins. Toriel held her close, actually holding her up, and gently led her to the couch, sitting her down with her and keeping hold of her as she cried.

Asgore was sitting on the other couch, his head in his hands, but his face was oddly clear, his eyes open. Nicky sat beside him, her hand on his arm, but he didn't move, so she didn't speak. She just sat there quietly, sometimes rubbing his shoulder, but otherwise keeping calm. She seemed to sense that whatever Asgore was thinking was just too deep for her to intrude on, so instead, she offered all she could, and that was her support.

Asriel was pacing, to the surprise of no one. No one tried to stop him, as they all knew him too well to bother. He was as silent as Asgore, sometimes stopping and tugging at his hair, baring his teeth at the same time, but when it seemed like he would stop for good, he would only resume his pacing.

Finally, Toriel said, "All of you, please stay the night. We have enough room."

That stopped Asriel, and everyone, including Asgore, looked up at her.

She smiled gently. "Nicky, you can stay in Asriel's old room, and Frisk and Asriel can stay in Frisk's. I think, of all the days, we need to stick together today. None of us should be alone, you three least of all."

"Mami," Frisk whispered, hugging her again and burying her face back into her shoulder. "Yes. Yes, please."

Asriel was nodding, and Nicky looked delighted.

Asgore was even smiling, just a little; he'd missed having a full home, after all. "I'll go make rounds, to New Solace and your place, Nicky," he offered, one of the two people in the room who could drive. "Just tell me what you need and I'll get them for you."

"You don't mind going into the city, Ehmpa?" Nicky wondered, her hand still on his shoulder.

"I..." He sighed. "I could use a distraction, to clear my head a little. It would be welcome, to be honest."

Asriel walked over to him and hugged him as hard as he could, causing Asgore to wheeze a little.

"Thank you, Dad," he whispered, and Asgore held his son tight.

For a moment, they allowed this to distract them, thinking of what they needed to stay not just for the night, but for a few of them, just in case. Nicky called her work and explained the situation, and was given a few days off for personal reasons. (In fact, when they told her they would be paid days, she protested, but they insisted; Nicky was rather loved at her job.)

Once Asgore had the list and the keys, he gave all of them whiskered kisses and left.

Toriel watched him go with sad eyes, but she said nothing.

Instead, she turned to Frisk and gently smoothed the hair from her wet face. By then, Frisk had calmed enough for her tears to stop, but she still looked crestfallen and exhausted.

"My dear," Toriel said, "you need a nap."

For some reason, this made Frisk smile, and she nodded, reaching up and rubbing at her eyes. "I know. I didn't get much sleep last night, it's true." She looked up at Asriel. "Neither of us did."

"Then both of you, please, go lie down. Nicky and I will find a quiet way to amuse ourselves while you sleep." Toriel smiled at her granddaughter, who smiled back.

Asriel nodded, going to Frisk and holding out his hands to her. She took them, and he pulled her to her feet, then into his arms for a hug, pausing for a moment just to hold her.

Then, still arm in arm, they walked down the hall and into Frisk's old room, closing the door behind them.

"Well, Nicky," Toriel said gently, smiling still. "What would you like to do?"

"If it's the same to you, Ehmma?" Nicky replied shyly. "Can we go downstairs and watch old movies, like we did when I was really small?"

Toriel laughed, the first real laugh she'd had all day, and agreed.

* * *

 Frisk and Asriel curled up together on Frisk's old bed, surprised that it could still hold them, albeit snugly. Both were exhausted and scared, but both were also comforted just by being together.

"Frisk?" Asriel whispered after a moment.

"Yeah?" she replied, looking up at him.

He held her face in his hands, running his thumbs over her cheeks slowly, searching her eyes with his own. "We _will_ get through this. There's a chance that we're completely wrong, and he won't bother. He looked... really worn out, really... old."

"But his eyes," Frisk murmured. "Did you see his eyes?"

Asriel hesitated, then nodded, biting down on his lip hard. Carlson's eyes were those of one who had only just begun.

"He knows something we don't. He's planned something beyond what we could ever even hit on. And he knows it, too," she went on, her eyes closing. "I can't stand it, Asriel."

"Neither can I," he agreed, knowing that to be anything but honest with her would only make things worse.

Instead, he kissed her forehead and pulled her close, and she clung to him tight. "But for now, all we can do is sleep, and get our strength back to face it when it comes."

She nodded against his chest, and he closed his eyes.

Surprisingly, it only took them both a half-hour to finally end up asleep - the kind of heavy sleep that healed as well as rejuvenated. It was very welcome, indeed.

* * *

The bus ride home was quiet.

Dandelion was in Basket's lap in her carrier, and Undyne had her arms around Alphys. They got some looks, as they were easily recognisable, but after a glower and a baring of her teeth from Undyne, the stares stopped.

Oddly, they were all dry-eyed, even Alphys; there was too much shock to feel tears.

Finally, Basket whispered, her eyes on her sister, "What do we do?"

"Not discuss it here," Undyne snapped.

Alphys reached up and rubbed her arm gently, the one that was across her chest, but Undyne merely pulled her closer. Basket nodded anyway, instead spending the rest of the trip allowing Dandelion to distract her.

Once they got off the bus, Undyne said, her tone softer, "We keep going on, Basket. He has a restraining order that extends to all of us; if he even comes within eyesight of us, he's back in jail."

Even as she spoke, however, she still held her wife close as they walked, and Alphys was silent, understanding far more in Undyne's body language than her words: Undyne would kill Carlson if she so much as saw him.

Then, Undyne looked at Basket and said, with a tiny smile, "So instead, we'll focus on _you,_ Peridot."

Her eyes shifted over to their house, where Olceal sat waiting for them.

Olceal, it should be noted, had wanted to come to the hearing, but was unable to; he instead was waiting at Alphys and Undyne's, watching the coverage on his phone. He'd offered to pick them up, the only one of Basket's family to know how, but again, they said no; they didn't know how long it would be, and hadn't wanted him to wait. 

He'd watched the covering - and had started to cry, something that worsened when he saw Basket's face when the camera filmed their family: terror and rage. It made him weep from the injustice of it all, and the fact that his future family was forced to face their biggest demon of their entire lives.  

He'd just gathered himself and made sure his tears were long gone before he saw them, and he stood up quickly, his heart aching when his eyes met his fiancée's. He started walking to meet them at once, trying not to run.

Basket couldn't help but smile at that, which in turn had her mothers smiling, too. Alphys took Dandelion from Basket and pushed Basket gently, and she ran forward, throwing herself into her fiancé's arms.

"That," Alphys said softly, "is wonderful to see."

Undyne nodded, her smile widening despite her mood, and she hugged Alphys in reply.

When they caught up, the five of them went to the house and into it. Olceal immediately said, "Let me get lunch for you ladies, okay? Please? I don't mind the walk, and I want to help."

Basket stared at him, her eyes suddenly filling with the tears she had been smothering for several hours. She grabbed onto him again and hugged him tight, sobbing into his shoulder, and bemused, he held her close, glancing at Alphys and Undyne with regret.

Undyne touched Basket's shoulder gently. "Not your fault, Olceal," she said gently, giving him a smile. "Why don't you and Peridot go together? I'll text you with what we all want, okay? And, Olceal: I think you need to bring Bassy."

Basket pulled away and nodded, rubbing her eyes and looking down. "S-sorry," she murmured. "Th-that sounds n-nice."

"Get gone," Undyne replied, and with a hug from Basket, the two went on their way.

Alphys had taken Dandelion from the carrier and held her close, gently talking to her with a smile. Dandelion's keen eyes were on hers, her smile bright and her hands trying to grab her glasses off of her face, giggling each time Alphys ducked out of reach.

Undyne walked over to her and slipped her arms around her from behind, resting her chin on Alphys's shoulder. Dandelion grinned at her, one hand immediately going to Undyne's eyepatch, which made both Alphys and Undyne laugh softly.

Then, Alphys said very quietly, "I'm terrified, Undyne, but I'm not going to hide."

Undyne closed her eye, holding onto her tighter, one hand reaching up to touch Dandelion on her small back. "I know," she admitted. "Me, too."

"You're right, you know. We really sh- _should_ be focusing on Basket and Olceal. I think that's the r-right thing to do."

Undyne nodded, giving Alphys a light kiss on her cheek, her eye opening again. "I think today, though, if we stay inside, it's understandable, don't you think?"

Alphys nodded, looking at her, her eyes scared but glittering with a yellow-hued strength she often forgot she had. "Yes," she agreed. She wanted nothing else.

Undyne pulled away slowly and ruffled Dandelion's hair, then grabbed her phone and started to text Basket.

"So what do you want?" she wondered.

Alphys sat down on the chair with Dandelion and told her - and thus their peaceful afternoon began.

* * *

Asgore parked in front of an apartment building he hadn't been to in a long time, hesitating.

Then, he got out of the car and sent a text. _"May I please come up to see you? Or would you like to come down to speak with me?"_

There was a long pause.

Then, _"I'll be right down."_

Asgore had expected that. He leaned against the car, sighing. He had already finished his errands, but had found himself making this detour out of nowhere. He knew why, knew he had no right, but still he made it.

After a moment, the front doors opened, and Darian came out, looking around until his eyes fell on Asgore. With a blank expression, he walked over, his hands in his pockets.

"Hello," Darian said softly.

"Hello," Asgore agreed. He again hesitated, then said, "Why did you not come to the hearing?"

Darian narrowed his eyes, looking away. "I didn't trust myself to," he admitted.

Asgore blinked in surprise. "You didn't?" he echoed.

"No," he agreed. "I knew, no matter what, if I saw that asshole again, I wouldn't be able to control my temper. I would have either said something regrettable, or done something regrettable."

He looked up, his eyes hard. "I'm glad I didn't. I now know for sure I would have."

"Darian," Asgore said softly. "I need a favour."

Darian sighed. "Don't you think I've done _enough_ for you over the years?" he wondered.

Asgore nodded. "That's why you can say no. It's a major favour to ask of you, one that could potentially get you into trouble. But I would be certain to ensure that there would be no way for you to get the blame, to the best of my abilities."

Darian looked confused, now. "What are you talking about?"

"Darian," Asgore said, his face now serious - and hard. Very few people ever saw the expression he wore now, but Darian had unfortunately seen it more than once, and had hoped he would never see it again - but now was.

"I want your gun."

Darian stared at him in shock. "My... my gun?"

"I know you still have it," Asgore went on, his voice so soft it was actually rather frightening. "I know you do, because years ago, you used it to save my daughter's life. I _want_ that gun, Darian. That's _all_ I want from you. If anyone asks you, it was stolen, and I will admit to stealing it. I promise you that."

"My gun," Darian repeated, his hands dropping from his pockets to his sides limply. "Why?"

Asgore narrowed his eyes in reply, not saying anything.

Darian felt a chill go up his spine at that, and he realised that Asgore wasn't telling him not to insult him, but to protect him. Darian wasn't a fool, and could easily imagine why.

Which was why he found himself nodding slowly. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

Asgore did, crossing his arms over his chest and looking down at the ground beneath him.

Deep down, he knew that what he was asking for was wrong, and that this was likely a mistake, but he also knew that if he did not, he would regret it for the rest of his life. Somehow, he just _knew_ , and he also knew that he wouldn't be able to live with that regret.

It took some time, but when Darian came back down, he was carrying what looked like a regular backpack.

Wordlessly, he held it out, and Asgore took it.

"It's unloaded, but there's a full clip in the case with it, with seven shots," Darian said softly.

"Thank you, Darian," Asgore said, placing a hand on Darian's shoulder briefly.

Darian hesitated, then said, his eyes glinting, "Do it soon, and do it fast. And most of all, don't get caught."

Asgore nodded.

Without another word, Darian turned around and walked back to the building, not once looking back.

Asgore went to the trunk of the car and very carefully placed the backpack into it, then closed it and locked it. He sighed, leaning over it for a moment, his heart heavy - but still ablaze with the need for vengeance.

With that thought, he got back into the car and drove away, back home, to his family - the very family he would do anything for.

He just hoped, truly, that it didn't come down to it. He didn't want to have to use the gun - but he would if he had to.

That much he knew.

And he would get his wish.

* * *

Olceal and Basket came back with food - and Papyrus.

Undyne immediately lunged at him and hugged him as hard as she could, lifting him into the air and grinning. He squawked out in surprise, his eyes going huge, and she dropped him, keeping her hands on his shoulders.

"Where the hell did you find him?" Undyne asked Basket and Olceal.

Basket smiled. "On the way here. He was coming to see us, anyway."

Alphys looked up in surprise. "Where's sans?" she asked.

Papyrus looked over at her, looking rather disheartened by the question. "I DON'T KNOW. WE LEFT THE COURTHOUSE TOGETHER, BUT WHEN I EXPRESSED INTEREST IN VISITING YOU, HE SAID HE NEEDED TO GO ELSEWHERE."

"Needed?" Undyne echoed, her mirth dimming at that.

"THAT WAS THE WORD HE USED," Papyrus agreed. "IT WAS STRANGE TO ME, AS WELL. BUT YOU KNOW MY BROTHER."

"Are you hungry?" Alphys wondered, looking suddenly desperate to change the subject. "I could make you something."

"THANK YOU, BUT NO," Papyrus admitted. "I _WOULD_ LIKE TO STAY FOR A WHILE, IF YOU DON'T MIND. I... DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE."

Undyne threw her arm around his shoulders and pulled him into the living room immediately, and he smiled at her gratefully, his arm going around her waist. Basket and Olceal exchanged a smile and brought the food into the kitchen.

Alphys stood up and handed Dandelion to Papyrus, surprising him but also immediately delighting him, and she went into the kitchen to help with the food.

"SHE IS SO SMALL," he admitted, holding Dandelion carefully with his gloved hands. She grinned at him, her hands immediately going to his bony face, and Undyne laughed - especially when she managed to shove her fingers into his nose hole, which make him splutter a bit.

"She's pretty damned cool, though," Undyne replied, giving Dandelion's hair another ruffle.

"THAT'S VERY TRUE," he agreed. "HER EYES ARE YOURS. DID YOU NOTICE?"

Undyne gave him a wry smile. "Am I blind, dweeb? Of course I noticed. Hers are white, though."

"JUST AS SCARY, THOUGH," he teased.

"Don't call my daughter scary!" she snarled, and he laughed, especially when her eye went deadly.

"Uncle Papyrus!" Basket said as she came into the room again, holding her food with one hand and Undyne's in the other. "Guess what?"

Undyne took her food with a smirk, and Papyrus blinked up at Basket, momentarily distracted. "DO I GET TO GUESS OR ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MOM AND JUST PLAN ON TELLING ME ANYWAY, REGARDLESS OF GUESSING?"

"I'd like you to guess, please," Basket replied, sitting down on the couch with them along with Olceal, as Alphys sat down on the chair with her food, her eyes dancing with barely-contained laughter.

"HMM," Papyrus said, as Dandelion sat down on his lap. He held her with one hand, the other playing with her hands, as she grabbed onto his glove and tried to yank it off with laughter. "ARE YOU GOING ON ANOTHER TRIP?"

"Nope!" Basket replied.

"DOES IT INVOLVE FOOD?"

"Nope."

Undyne glanced at Alphys, who was already looking over at her. They exchanged a happy expression, one with dozens of words that they didn't need to voice.

They were both so happy at that moment.

After several fruitless attempts, Papyrus gave up, and Basket burst out, "Olly and I are getting married!"

Papyrus lit up at once. "THAT'S WONDERFUL, BASKET!"

He turned to Undyne, who was grinning so wide her eye was a crescent. "UNDYNE!" He turned to Alphys, who was beaming, her eyes shining and her smile wide. "ALPHYS! YOUR DAUGHTER IS GETTING MARRIED!"

"Isn't it fucking awesome?" Undyne agreed gleefully, and Alphys nodded in agreement.

Olceal was blushing, busying himself with eating, which was of course the time that Papyrus chose to turn his attention to him. "CONGRATULATIONS, OLCEAL! THOUGH I MUST WARN YOU: THIS FAMILY IS INSANE!"

Alphys burst into laughter, so hard she almost fell to the floor, unable to restrain herself at that. She had to put her food aside, almost dropping it to the floor, too.

"Papyrus," she gasped out, her hand to her chest and her eyes full of happy tears. "Tell us how you _really_ feel!"

Olceal, however, took it in stride. He grinned. "Yeah, they're nuts, but I'm an ermine monster: my ancestors were big on nuts."

"Oh, my god, I love this punk," Undyne declared between laughs of her own, holding her sides.

Basket grinned at him. "Me, too," she agreed.

Her mothers gaped at her, then both burst into delighted laughter. Their Bassy was an adult, indeed. 

It was a wonderful afternoon, indeed.

* * *

Asgore came home quietly, figuring that it was likely that it was needed. It was too sombre a time to be anything but.

When he saw that the door to Frisk's room was closed, he was glad of his assumption, and he left what Frisk and Asriel needed outside the door. He then went to Asriel's room and put Nicky's things in there, before he went into the room that he and Toriel shared.

He listened, and heard that his wife and granddaughter were in the basement, and from Frisk's room, he could hear Asriel's snores. He sat down on the bed, hunched down, and covered his face with his hands.

After hours and hours of holding back, he burst into tears, as quietly as he could, but still he cried, unable to hold them back any longer.

He knew it wouldn't be the last time he cried this way. He just _wished_ it was.


	8. The Entrails Of The Animals; The Blood Running Through

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one got long, and I tried to par it down as best as I could, but it still ended up very long indeed. Sorry about that, but as you read it, I'm sure you'll understand why it's so long and why I couldn't cut as much as I would have liked. Also, uh, I'm sorry x_X!!!!

For an entire day, there was a strange calm that seemed to fall over everyone, to the point that it seemed almost safe to return to a kind of routine. Though the Dreemurrs remained together at New New Home, they seemed to almost be able to relax and calm down a little in each other's company, able to laugh again, and not spend so much time in fear.

In turn, Alphys and Undyne spent the time focused on Basket and Olceal, having a wonderful time spoiling both of them with plans for their wedding. Though they insisted they wanted something small, everyone knew that that was not going to happen - especially once Mettaton caught wind of it. (Alphys had emailed him the news, but as he was yet on another tour, she didn't expect a reply for a few more days.)

On the second afternoon, Undyne had practically stole Basket from her apartment and demanded that they go hunting for the perfect wedding outfit for her. Alphys had wanted to come, too, but with Dandelion, it probably wasn't a good idea, and Olceal wasn't exactly adept enough with children - least of all babies - to be deemed a babysitter. Undyne promised to send her pictures of every outfit they tried so that she could give her opinion, and she was satisfied with that.

Instead, she decided to take the time to go grocery shopping, something she rather enjoyed doing with Dandelion.

Alphys came home from the store wearing a smile; Dandelion had fallen asleep on the way back on the bus, and was now curled up in her carrier and out like a light. With the stress of the past few days, Alphys knew that Dandelion was hyper-aware of it, and it made Alphys happy that she was getting some good, heavy sleep at last.

With very careful and gentle movement, Alphys set the carrier on the console table, then lugged the groceries into the kitchen, sighing a little.

 _We certainly eat a lot of food, and we even go out a lot, too!_ she thought, dragging the full cart a series of grumbles. And now, with Basket and Olceal along for the ride, there was even _more_ to get.

She was reaching up to put the sachets of ramen away when she went a shiver go up her spine and she paused, just for a moment.

Then she continued, but her eyes were narrowed. She felt something off, though she couldn't pinpoint what. She looked over her shoulder and glanced at Dandelion, but she was fine; still sleeping normally. With a slight shrug, she moved away from the counter, grabbed a few cans of tomato sauce and moved back to the shelves.

And that's when it happened.

She suddenly sensed a presence behind her, but before she could react, she found a cloth thrust into her face, and she stumbled back, dropping the cans and reaching up automatically with her claws, scratching at the arm holding the cloth. She struggled not to breathe in, digging her claws in as hard as she could, but nothing would stop that hold on her. 

She then instead reached out and tried to grab onto her magic, also trying to move out of the hold of whoever was restraining her, trying to slam them backwards into the counter. She managed it, and heard the other person grunt with pain. She did it again, at least four times, but despite the obvious pain she caused them, they wouldn't let go.

Then, what caused her downfall: she felt a sharp blow to her side, and she made a sound, accidentally breathing in. Something sickly sweet overcame her senses, and to her horror, her vision started to darken, her moves going sluggish and slow. She scratched at the arm again desperately, her moves clumsy, but, she was too weak to even leave a mark, let alone draw blood.

The effort made her groan out softly, with terror and pain. In turn, she inhaled more of that chemical, and felt her body start to fall down.

But still, she tried, all the same. She was trying to turn back to look at Dandelion, to try and break free to get to her, to hide her, to _save_ her...

_No, please, not this, not again, not like this, please! Please!_

_Undyne! Undyne, I'm so sorry...!_

Her body slumped, and her panicked mind tried to get it to move, but it wouldn't obey.

 _Dandelion,_ she tried to shout. _Dandelion!_

Her eyes rolled up, and she surrendered to nothingness.

* * *

When they got home, Undyne and Basket were in good spirits, looking forward to seeing both Alphys and Dandelion and having a wonderful supper together, fully intending to focus on the wedding plans - despite the fact that they hadn't been successful.

But when they walked in, they both noticed, at the same time, how quiet it was in the house and how wrong it felt. They both froze in the doorway, confused.

"Alphy? Where are you?" Undyne called.

When there was no response, they walked in together, that confusion turning to worry.

"Mom!" Basket suddenly cried, running to the kitchen.

The cupboard was open, and the floor was littered with discarded cans. On the counter were still-packed groceries, as well as Alphys's bag and phone. There was no sign of Dandelion at all.

Undyne stared, her eye wide with shock. She turned, moving to the bedrooms as fast as Basket had ever seen her move, and found them empty.

That was when Basket's eyes suddenly fell on the back of the front door, and she squeaked out, "Mommy?"

Undyne was at her side immediately, and she pointed to the door. Undyne went over, and attached to the door by a switchblade was a note.

Undyne tore it from the door, starting to tremble. It read:

 _"Former Royal Guard Captain Undyne,_  
_Your wife and daughter have been take into our custody._  
_If you wish to see either one of them alive again, surrender yourself and the Ambassador to us at the following address._  
_You have 24 hours. If we don't see or hear from you, they will both die."_

Undyne's breathing became strange. She knew it, but she couldn't control it; it sounded raspy and strained. She held the slip of paper and felt a weird, hot strength filling her entire body, including an odd tingling in her left eye socket. It was like the more she tried to calm her breathing, the worse it got, and the hotter her body felt.

Suddenly, she felt Basket's shaking hand touch her arm, and she started, crumpling the letter in her hand.

Basket stared at her; Undyne's eye was completely black, and her magic hovered above them, heavy and strong.

"Mommy?" she whispered.

"They have them," Undyne growled, staring at Basket as if she barely recognised her.

Basket wasn't sure she recognised her mom, not with her eye like that.

"They have Alphy and Dandelion. They need me and Frisk to surrender, or they'll kill them."

Basket's eyes filled with tears, but she gritted her teeth, her eyes flashing with rage.

Now Undyne was the one who stared: her daughter's eyes were now rimmed with black, the same black as her own.

"They _won't,"_ Basket snarled. "They _won't_ kill them. Mommy, they _will not_ kill them. And _we_ won't surrender."

Undyne stared at her firstborn, overcome with conflicted emotions: great sadness, and unspeakable pride. She touched Basket's pale cheek with one hand and nodded.

"You're right," she agreed. "Let's get them back."

"Wait, Mom." Basket hesitated. "Shouldn't we tell Aunt Frisk?"

"No," Undyne answered without any hesitation. "We do this ourselves. They've crossed me, Basket. Now they'll see exactly what that means."

* * *

Alphys woke slowly, as if clawing her way out of a murky sea of tar.

She felt weak and confused, and for a moment, her memory refused to supply her with the reason why. She managed to open her eyes a small bit, and was greeted by dim evening light, a grey colour with very little variance. She couldn't feel much of her body, but she didn't panic yet; instead, she concentrated on breathing, knowing that the rest of her senses would come back the longer she did.

Then, she heard soft, insistent crying beside her, and she jolted, the movement sending sharp pain through her head, but she ignored it. With those cries, everything came back, and she gasped, trying to force the feeling back into her body desperately.

When she could, she rolled onto her side, one hand reaching out, and it landed on the familiar shape of Dandelion's carrier. A small hand grabbed onto one of her fingers and gripped tight, and she felt tears burn her eyes. Slowly, she pushed herself up with her other hand, her whole body shaking, the exhaustion being chased away by desperate adrenaline.

"Dandelion," she rasped out, her fingers fumbling with the clasps of the carrier. Her daughter stared up at her with tear-filled eyes, clearly having been crying for quite some time. Otherwise, she looked unhurt.

 _Thank the universe and everything,_ Alphys thought at that. She hadn't realised how certain she'd been that Dandelion would either of been abandoned or killed until just then. Now that she knew better, she felt better, too. It was nice, regardless of the situation.

The moment Alphys got her free, she pulled her into her shaking arms and held her, rocking her slowly with her eyes closed tight, her own tears falling free.

"Oh, my baby," she sobbed. "You're safe. You're safe..."

Dandelion's small hands clung to her tight, her soft head burying into the crook of Alphys's neck, and she stroked her daughter's wispy hair slowly.

To her surprise, when Alphys took the time to look around in the room, she found herself in a small bedroom, bereft of any furniture save a rather depressing bucket, something Alphys was not thrilled to see, but at least it was _something_. She was also surprised to see Dandelion's baby bag in the room. Alphys leaned close to Dandelion and checked, and sure enough, she needed to be changed.

For a moment, Alphys decided that, no matter where she was, or what had happened, Dandelion came first. She went on autopilot, dragging the bag to her and opening it, pulling out exactly what she needed in order to change Dandelion. (She decided she was glad the bucket was there, after all.)

Once that was done, Dandelion seemed to be a lot better, though the moment she was back in Alphys's arms, her hands went right to her chest. With a small smile, Alphys pulled her closer and fed her, glad she could at least do that for her, and immediately Dandelion drank, clearly very hungry. Alphys held her and rocked her closely, her eyes closed, allowing this small moment to comfort her, too.

When Dandelion was done and burped, she was in far better spirits, indeed, smiling up at Alphys happily and trying to pull her glasses off of her face - one of her favourite games. She managed to do it twice before, suddenly, a loud slam on the door startled them both.

Alphys held Dandelion to her tight, glaring, but she said nothing.

"You awake?" a voice snapped out.

Alphys hesitated, then said, "Y-yes. Wh-who are you? Wh-where are we?"

"That doesn't matter, does it?" was the snide reply. "I just wanted to make you aware that you have eighteen hours left until your time limit is up."

"T-time limit f-for what?" Alphys answered, dread flooding her whole body.

"Until you die, of course. Your wife has been told of your kidnap and knows what she needs to save you both. If she and the Ambassador don't come soon, well..." The voice trailed off with a sharp, cutting laugh, and Alphys held Dandelion close.

"Y-you would k-kill a b- _baby?"_ she snarled.

"As I recall, _your_ king killed children with no problem. One baby - especially a _monster_ baby - would simply be the start to evening out those odds, don't you think?"

"N-no," was Alphys's sharp reply. "C-can't y-you just l-let her go? K-kill me, and l-let her g-go?"

"You don't get to negotiate, so shut up. I'll let you know when it's twelve hours. If you're hungry, too bad. You're lucky we brought that bag with you."

"W-wait--!" Alphys called, but the only reply was that same snide laugh as they walked away.

Alphys hugged Dandelion to her, her eyes filling with tears. "N-no," she growled. _"No._ Th-they won't kill you, my Dandy. Never."

Alphys would die before she let anyone touch her baby, and saying it aloud reminded her, and made her feel better.

But Alphys knew, if it came to it, she would choose Dandelion's - everyone's - life over her own. It was something she knew as well as she knew her own name.

* * *

The address led them to a small, empty home, one that seemed long-abandoned. Undyne paid the taxi driver as she and Basket got out, and the driver peeled out, eager to be gone, despite how much Undyne overpaid them.

Basket grabbed Undyne's hand and held it tight for a moment, and they looked at each other.

"Peridot," Undyne said softly, "when we go in, you do _exactly_ what I tell you to do, and do _not_ question me or hesitate. Don't say anything, and stay as close to me as you can. Do you understand me?"

Basket stared at her, swallowing hard, before her eyes hardened and she nodded.

Undyne stared into those eyes, seeing so much of Alphys there that it hurt, but she kept her emotions at bay.

She had to.

"I promise, Mom," Basket said, her voice steady, and Undyne squeezed her hand and nodded, then let it go.

Together, they walked to the door, and Undyne pounded on it, hard.

There was a long pause before Undyne tried the handle. It turned, and the door opened slowly. They walked in, looking around, before going in further, looking for any signs of anyone.

Soon, they stood in the empty, dark living room, and there was Alphys, being held back by two humans, her arms behind her back. Dandelion and her carrier were held by another.

Carlson stood in the middle, his arms crossed, a coy smile on his lips.

It _should_ have surprised them, but it didn't. If anything, it would have been surprising if he _hadn't_ been there at all.

Who else would be so depraved? Who else would be so hateful?

Of _course_ it was him.

Undyne and Basket stood side-by-side now, and Undyne eyed Carlson closely, sensing something slightly off about him. What was it that she could sense? There was something about his stance, his eyes, that reminded her of something, but she didn't know what. He certainly _looked_ much better than he had at the hearing, much healthier, as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He stood tall and seemed as if he hadn't been in jail at all. If anything, he seemed almost... younger.

Whatever it was, Undyne didn't like it. It set her on edge, and made her feel a rare flash of fear.

"Give my baby to my daughter," she said sharply, sick of the silence. "Your problem isn't with either of them. It's with me and Frisk. Let them go."

"Why do you think you can negotiate, I wonder?" Carlson answered calmly, an eyebrow raising. "And where is Dreemurr?"

"Waiting outside, for my signal. And you _will_ let my children go, because you want me to cooperate, don't you?" Undyne grinned, baring her teeth. "We all know what happens with me when I don't cooperate, right?"

Alphys glanced at her, her eyes shining with love and pride. Undyne would never, ever forget that look, for as long as she lived.

Carlson considered. "You know, you have a point. We don't need to have the blood of children on our hands. We're not _monsters,_ after all."

With a cruel smile, he turned to the human holding Dandelion and nodded. Slowly, they came forward and placed the carrier in the middle of the room.

"Basket," Undyne snapped, and immediately her eldest daughter darted forward and grabbed her sister, holding her close. "Now, get out of here."

"But, Mom--!" Basket's eyes filled with tears.

"Take your sister and go, _now,_ Basket!" Undyne snarled.

Basket stared at her for a moment, then looked to Alphys. Her eyes were wide with fear, but she nodded to her. Basket bit her lip, then turned and ran out of the house as fast as she could.

As soon as Basket was gone, Undyne said, "Now, my wife."

"The Ambassador?" Carlson answered.

Undyne, in reply, hesitated, then said nothing.

Her silence spoke far louder than words, and she knew that the ruse was up.

In response, one of the humans holding Alphys suddenly held up a gun and pointed it to Alphys's head. Her eyes flared in shock and she froze, her eyes then shutting tight and her teeth gritting together.

Undyne turned to Carlson and snarled, "We had a deal! Me for her! _Let her go!"_

Carlson smiled at her. "I don't think so. The deal was you _and_ the Ambassador for her. You didn't fulfil your end of the bargain," he replied.

He turned to the gun-holding human and nodded. "Kill her."

 _"No--!"_ Undyne screamed _. "Alphy--!!"_

Alphys jerked away quickly, pulling a hand free and reaching out, grabbing the wrist of the human and yanking it up as high as she could, just as they fired. The shot missed and hit the wall, and for a moment the human and Alphys struggled - until the second human grabbed her and pulled her arms back again.

Quicker than either she or Undyne could react, the first human fired again, hitting Alphys in the right side, in the chest, just below her breast.

Her eyes flared again, a small cry escaping her, before she slumped, dropping down to the floor.

The humans let her fall, and she landed on her front, her eyes shut tight, her hands going to her chest and pressing down hard, trying to stop the bleeding, her teeth gritted.

Undyne suddenly felt strange, then.

She felt that odd heat fill her veins, the same kind she had felt when she read the ransom note, and again that tingling hit her eye. She lunged forward, a cry ripping from her throat.

When she almost reached them, another shot rang out, and she felt pain in her shoulder. She staggered, a hand automatically going there, but she didn't fall. Her eye suddenly went as black as midnight, and a glitter of blue light sparked from beneath her eyepatch.

She stood there in shock, her eye on her fallen wife, still, feeling that hot fury spread through her, throbbing in time with her heartbeat, something she could feel as well as hear, and with it, she felt so much, all at once.

Slowly, she reached up with her other hand and pulled her eyepatch off, tossing it aside. Instinct filled her, and she grinned, her eye falling on Carlson, now.

Slowly, starting from the very bottom of her feet to the roots of her hair, she felt that heat spread throughout her, and blue light suddenly filled her entire senses. It seemed to consume her, and for a moment, it was all she knew, all she could feel and see. It filled her bones, her blood, her cells - her very soul, and she let it, feeling a strength she had never felt before - but knew she needed.

When it faded, she still stood, but now she was holding a spear and clad in full armour, crouching in a ready stance. She was still grinning, her eye still black, but now, with every other heartbeat, a flash of blue blossomed and shot out from her left eye socket.

Her eye once again met Carlson's, and she felt a delicious thrill fill her, because now she saw what she wanted: _fear_.

Licking her lips slowly, she narrowed her eye and snarled, "You're going to have to try a little harder than _that."_

Then, with a shout, she lunged forward, her spear out and aimed at Carlson. The other humans immediately scattered in opposite directions, vanishing from the room and, soon, from the house.

She didn't care. Her prey was right in front of her, and she wouldn't stop until his soul was hers.

Carlson staggered back, trying to get out of range, his speed surprising her. She swung her spear at him, and he darted to the side, just barely avoiding it. No human, least of all a human of his age and stature, should have that kind of speed. Carlson took several steps back, light on his feet, and Undyne froze, glaring at him.

"What's been done to you?" she demanded.

He smiled, the kind of smile that spoke of cruelty, committed and promised, and gleefully given. "You can thank your _wife_ for this," he answered.

With an enraged shout, Undyne lunged for him again, another spear bursting from her other hand. She swung them both toward him, missing with one, but the other, she knew, would hit him true. She grinned, eagerly waiting for his blood to spill, eagerly hoping it would paint the walls...

But he grabbed the spear. With his bare hand. And he held it. Granted, his legs buckled a bit, but he _had_ stopped the spear.

In her shock, Undyne stood frozen, and he reached up with both hands and grabbed onto her spear, then shoved it - and thus her - back and away from him. She staggered, only for a moment, but it was enough. In that single moment, that one easy grab, she knew.

She knew _exactly_ what had happened to him.

"You..." She held up her hands, and this time, above each one came four of her spears, all pointed right for him. _"Your soul is mine!"_ she screamed.

She threw her hands down, and the spears rained forward, the sounds chiming together like a warsong. Carlson managed to avoid several of them, but was hit by several more, and he went down, blood gushing from those places. Panic rose up in his eyes, but still he struggled to get to his feet, still alive - though by all accounts, that should have killed him.

Undyne walked forward, holding her hands up again and summoning the spears once more. Her face was terrible in its fury, a mask of rage and pain, of desperation and of bloodthirst. With another scream, she flung her hands down again, and once more Carlson was hit - but once more he did not die. In fact, if anything, he looked as if he still had even more fight in him, even though both times he looked almost dead each time her spears hit.

Undyne was a mere foot from him, and she grinned, her smile something that no one should ever see - and live. She held her hands up again, certain that this time, she would kill him.

"Your soul is mine," she repeated gleefully, and she laughed at him, her spears flashing to life for the final time.

The sound of sirens startled them both.

Undyne looked up, and Carlson took his chance to try and get up and escape from her - which was just as well as the sounds of sirens seemed to bring her back to reality.

Suddenly, her black eye landed on her wife, and she could see no one else. She jerked away from Carlson, the spears vanishing, not even bothering to watch where he went, no longer caring anymore. She ran to Alphys, who was still lying on her front, though her hand at her side was limp, soaked in blood, so much of it pooling beneath her...

"Alphy?" Undyne knelt down and carefully rolled Alphys onto her back, her heart aching. She pressed a hand to Alphys's wound, trying to stop the bleeding, and she heard Alphys groan out softly and wince.

Alphys was so pale, her eyes closed, a thick line of blood trailing from her mouth down to her chin. Undyne pulled her close, and to her relief, Alphys's eyes slowly opened, just a little, and met hers.

But to Undyne's horror, they were so dim - and lined with dark grey.

"Undyne..." she whispered, feeling so light in Undyne's arms. "Safe...?"

Undyne nodded. "I-I'm fine, Alphy."

"Bass... Dandy...?"

"Yes," Undyne whispered. "They're safe, too."

Alphys smiled at her a little, her eyes closing for longer than a blink. "Un... dyne..." She reached up slowly, and Undyne grabbed her hand, feeling it shaking. "L-love you... Love... you..."

"Alphy, you need to hold on," Undyne answered sharply, her eye searching Alphys's. There was no light in them, none at all - just that terrifying grey, the rings seeming to grow even more the longer she stared.

"The sirens, can't-can't you hear them?" She heard her voice break, but she didn't stop. "Help is coming. Hold on, Alphy, _please!"_

"Take..." Alphys closed her eyes, swallowing hard. "...care of them... know you can... love you... I... love you..."

"Alphy, stop that!" Undyne cried, shaking her _. "Hold on, do you hear me?!_ Don't do this to me! _Don't!_ I need you, Alphy! _I need you!"_

Undyne lowered her head, unable to add, her voice a desperate scream _, "DON'T GO!!"_

"...s-sorry... love... you..."

She suddenly relaxed, her hand going limp in Undyne's.

Undyne stared at her, trembling.

"Alphy?" she whispered, staring into her wife's face, searching desperately. "Sweetie? Come on, this..." She sobbed out, shaking Alphys again. "This isn't fair! Open your eyes! Alphy! _Alphy! Open your eyes!!"_

Behind her, she heard the doors open, heard people come in, but she didn't move.

She leaned down and placed her ear to Alphys's chest, but didn't hear anything, not even a faint beat or a wisp of breath.

"No," she whispered, her eye wide, her left eye flashing dangerously.

Then, she screamed out, _"Alphy, no! Alphy!! Don't leave me! DON'T LEAVE ME!!"_

Quickly, she lay her wife down and started CPR, sobbing the entire time, every other breath a desperate plea to Alphys: to breathe, for her heart to beat, for her eyes to open, for her to smile and tell her everything was okay, it was going to be okay, and they would go home _together_...

That was when Undyne felt hands on her, and she pulled herself away easily, that strength still coursing through her without end and making her stronger than ever before.

It still wasn't enough.

It was too late.

But then she felt more hands on her, dragging her away, and saw more hands pull her wife from her reach, and she screamed, loud, struggling desperately to get back to Alphys. But even _that_ strength, with the amount of both humans and monsters holding her, wasn't enough to free her from their grasp.

And it was from that grasp that she had to watch them lie her wife down and try to bring her back, this time with the help of oxygen and electricity.

And then she started screaming again, especially when nothing changed, the screams tearing her throat. She couldn't stop, her vision blurring, even when she felt something sharp pierce her neck.

When she slumped, she still tried to scream, to break free, but with her vision fading, so was her strength at last, and suddenly, she felt nothing but black.

In her sorrow, she let it consume her, her mind thinking only of Alphys.


	9. What A Thing To Do; What A Thing To Choose

Basket had seen it all.

The moment she had emerged from the house, she grabbed her phone and called 911. Desperately, she explained who she was and what was happening, and all while her eyes were looking in through one of the windows. She explained who was hurt, who was involved, and to get there, as soon as possible, no matter what, with the means to save both of her mothers - because she feared the worst.

And she had been right to.

She had watched it all in horror, making sure that Dandelion could see nothing. She saw Alphys go down, then Undyne get shot, too, before, suddenly, she became like a walking blue flame, emerging from it into something scary but powerful.

She watched her try - again and again - to murder Carlson, only to have him keep getting up over and over.

When those sirens finally came, Basket waved them down and was relieved to find not just one ambulance, but two, and both with monster and human paramedics.

She didn't see what happened to Carlson, but when she followed the paramedics in, she saw Alphys on the floor and unmoving, heard Undyne's screams, and suddenly found herself running back outside, holding Dandelion's carrier so hard to her chest that it hurt. Dandelion, by now, was crying, but then, so was Basket.

One thing she knew she'd always remember was when she saw them surround Alphys. One of the monster paramedics held something in their hands - a syringe full of something strange and purple, something weird and unsettling that Basket had never seen before. She saw them immediately inject it into Alphys's arm, even as they worked to get her heart started.

But by then, her tears had blurred everything, and she had run, cowering outside of the house, holding her sister to her desperately.

It truly felt like, in one single moment, her entire world had just shattered.

* * *

The Dreemurrs had been enjoying their dinner quite happily, especially since both Papyrus and sans had decided to stop by to join them, when suddenly sans sat up in his chair, the hand around his glass of mustard tightening so hard it shattered. His eyes were dark, and he got to his feet, rushing towards the front door.

"Sans--!" Toriel shouted after him.

"Hospital! _Now!"_ he answered, before he rushed out of the front door, and was gone.

Frisk got to her feet without a word, hurriedly grabbing her coat and bag and following, before her husband and daughter did the same. Papyrus moved to follow, only to hesitate.

Asgore said, "Wait!" He grabbed Toriel's hand as he did. "We'll drive you!"

And so together, they went, not knowing what they faced, but knowing that whatever it was, it wasn't going to be easy - or good.

* * *

When Undyne woke up, she realised that that beautiful strength was long gone, and she felt so tired and empty - bereft, even.

For a moment, that was _all_ she could remember - that blissful strength, that invincible power, seeing her enemy cowering before her - and then she felt pain in her shoulder that brought her back to reality, though she couldn't remember _why_.

Slowly, she opened her eye, finding her vision blurry and distorted, though whether it was from the drugs or from the injuries, she wasn't sure.

"Mommy?"

She turned slowly, finding her hand being held by one similar to hers, only green. She tried to squeeze it, but found only her fingertips would obey her. She stared at her eldest daughter, trying to get her eye to focus. She tried to speak, but not even words would obey her, her throat was so sore and raw, so she nodded slowly.

"You're in the hospital," Basket said gently. "Dandelion is with me." Her eyes lowered to the floor, where Dandelion slept within her carrier. "We're both okay, Mommy."

At those words, suddenly, a wave of white-hot terror filled Undyne, and her eye widened, her grip tightening on Basket's hand. She jolted, trying to get free of her bed, though to where, she didn't know, but Basket stood up and grabbed her, lying her back down and holding her there.

Undyne stared at her, shocked by her daughter's strength - only to realise that it was she who was weak.

Undyne stared at Basket, her eye filling with tears, the feel of them hotter than her terror. She tried to speak, but only broken sounds came out, not even close to words; she'd blown out her vocal cords when she'd screamed for Alphys.

"Mommy, it's okay," Basket said gently, reaching up and stroking her knotted hair gently, just like Undyne did when Basket was upset. "It's okay. Please, it's alright. Mummy... she's alive. She's _alive_ , Mommy."

Undyne stared at her in disbelief, trembling. She reached up and grabbed onto her daughter's shoulders.

Basket's eyes went like steel, nodding. She understood, and suddenly Undyne loved her eldest daughter so much and so deeply that it almost hurt.

"She's alive, Mommy. Please, believe me. She's... not awake." Basket hesitated, then narrowed her eyes and just said it. "S-she's in a medical coma for now. When they got to her, she had... had-had started... t-turning to..."

Basket swallowed hard, fear lancing her eyes. "T-they gave her something, got her br-breathing and her heart beating a-again, b-but she had st-started to... s-so for now... s-so she can h-heal... she's in th-that coma. Th-they don't k-know how long it'll t-take, o-or i-if... _wh-when_ she'll wake up, b-but..."

Basket lowered her eyes for a moment, shaking, and Undyne suddenly pulled her close. Basket clung to her tight. "B-but she's a-alive, Mommy. Mummy is still alive."

Undyne nodded, her eye closing. Her throat hurt too much to even try to speak, now, and her whole body felt so weak and worn out, but she had enough for this. She would always have enough for her children.

"You need to r-rest, Mommy," Basket whispered. "Y-you burnt y-yourself out. They s-said it was like you al-almost had a h-heart attack..." She swallowed hard. "T-try to get b-back to sleep. I-if you c-can't, they said they could give you m-medicine, to sleep. D-do you want th-that?"

Undyne hesitated, then nodded, biting her lip and pulling away from Basket.

Basket searched her face, then nodded in return. "I'll tell them," she promised. "For now, j-just rest. Mummy is alive. D-don't forget. H-hold onto th-that, M-Mommy."

She hugged Undyne again, giving her a kiss on both cheeks, then another hug, before she picked her sister up and left.

Soon, a nurse came in with a syringe, one she inserted into Undyne's IV. Within seconds, Undyne felt that darkness pull her down, and she again surrendered, this time with less fear - but no less sorrow.

* * *

sans sat alone, his hands clasping beneath his chin, his eyes dim. He sat in Alphys's hospital room, the dark lighting a perfect match for how he felt at that moment.

His eyes were on her face for a long time; it was partially obscured by a breathing mask, the steady flow of automatic air a steady hiss as it breathed for her. She was still very pale, her eyes closed and not even twitching with normal sleep. Her arms lay at her sides, one hooked up to blood and fluids, the other hooked up to...

...something _else_.

sans now stared at that IV, his eyes on that small bag that was set on slow drip. Within it was a liquid that seemed to almost glow despite the dim light, its purple colour beautiful despite the setting. It slowly made its way down the IV's tube and into Alphys's arm.

sans knew, without question, that it was that small bag alone that was keeping Alphys alive and in one piece.

It was DT, the very DT that she had spent years working on and studying.

The bulk of her studies had actually been how to slow the process of monsters turning to dust as they died, so that there could be some way of saving them before they vanished. Despite the years, she and her group had never had the chance or permission to test it, despite their growing confidence in doing so.

Clearly, Alphys had made sure that, should something happen to her, she would, without question, be a test subject. And it looked like it was working.

He had found out that they had given her the first shot of DT when they found her, which had stopped the already-beginning process of her turning to dust immediately. It had saved her life, because once they had managed that, they were able to finally get her heart started again.

She had been right all along. He didn't know it, yet, but she'd been right about two things, now. That wouldn't come out for years, but when it did, it changed _everything_.

_But now..._

sans wondered if, should she wake up, she would appreciate the irony of it all: that the hated research she had spent years covering up had saved her life, and, in turn, would soon save countless others.

sans and Alphys, over the decades, had become friends. Certainly, they had their moments in which they would clash, their personalities actually so alike that this was inevitable. However, over the years, they had reached a kind of equilibrium, a kind of peace that comes with camaraderie as well as friendship. In that way, they loved each other, the way two constantly bickering siblings did.

Until Undyne could, sans would watch over Alphys, and make sure that she stayed safe.

* * *

The Dreemurrs found Basket holding Dandelion to her chest as she slept, and Olceal was holding Basket.

They sat in the waiting room, their eyes staring at the screen in front of them, with Alphys and Undyne's names listed amongst others.

Basket was rubbing Dandelion's sleeping back absently, her little sister's hands clutching onto her shirt tight, even in sleep, her small head resting against her shoulder, and Basket's hands shook, despite her gentle gestures. She had her head resting against Olceal's shoulder, whose arms were around her and her sister protectively. Beside them in a spare chair was Dandelion's carrier and baby bag.

Frisk reached them first, kneeling in front of them and placing her hands on Basket's forearms.

"Bassy," she said softly, and Basket's eyes, dark with tears, met hers. "What's happened, Bassy? What's going on?"

Asgore stared at the screen, his eyes wide, and for a moment, Toriel noticed that they both glinted with two sparks of colour she had never wanted to see within them again. Toriel looked to the screen - and covered her mouth, leaning back against him. He grabbed her immediately and held her, but he didn't look away.

His expression was almost blank, but his eyes were blazing.

Nickname and Asriel came over, and Nicky moved the carrier to the side and sat down next to Basket. Slowly, Basket looked over to her, who looked back at her very kindly. Seeing that, Basket felt a pang hit her heart, and she swallowed hard. 

Even now, Basket's love for Nickname was strong, so strong that even in tragedy, she still felt it so deeply. And it turn, it made her weep more.

"Bassy," Nickname whispered, reaching up and touching her wet cheek. "What's happened?"

Basket opened her mouth to speak, only to utter a sob in response. She shut her eyes and buried her face into her sister's head, holding her closer, and Olceal shut his eyes and held Basket closer in turn.

Asriel was now standing beside his parents, his eyes huge. He was speechless.

Papyrus wasn't there; he was trying to find sans.

Carefully, hollowly, Olceal explained what Basket had, in hysterics, told him. She hadn't been able to get out the whole story in her grief, but it was enough to shock them.

When he was done, there wasn't a dry eye left in that room, not even from Olceal. It was too much pain, too much grief, all at once.

Then, Asriel snarled out, "I'm going to murder him, myself."

Frisk stood up silently and reached up, grabbing his face so hard he winced. She glared at him, her eyes full of tears, but her face was furious.

"No, you will _not_ , Asriel," she snapped. She kept her hold on his face, but her eyes moved to each of them, meeting each of their eyes in turn. _"No one is going to kill anyone."_

Asgore looked at her with that strange expression. "He violated his parole, Frisk," he said calmly, holding Toriel to him, now, one hand stroking her hair and ears slowly as she wept against him.

"Yes, he did," she answered, letting go of Asriel finally, who lowered his head and looked guilty. "So he's going back to jail. That's the end of it."

"But, Frisk--," Asriel tried again.

"Enough!" she shouted. "Just stop it! Look at what's happened! Look at what's happened when Undyne - _Undyne,_ probably the strongest of us all! - tried to stop him!"

Toriel raised her head at her tone, but her eyes went to hers, and she nodded. At least Toriel understood, and was on Frisk's side.

"Something's happened to him," Frisk continued, unaware that she was crying, but her voice was as sharp as a knife. "Basket, you said that Undyne seemed to almost kill him, but he kept getting up?"

Basket nodded without looking up.

"That's determination!" Frisk concluded. "Even worse - it sounds like DT! If Undyne, at her highest power, can't kill him, _nothing and no one can._ And I will be dead before I let _any_ of you _try!_ Do you understand me?!"

She was shouting, now, but they were all staring at her - save Basket - and she had their full attention.

"No matter how much he threatens us, _we won't surrender._ We _will_ _not_ fight him! We have to find another way, and we will! Do you understand?!" Her voice broke. _"Do you understand me?!"_

Everyone of course nodded, but Nicky got to her feet and pulled her mother to her close.

Frisk stood there, not moving for a moment, until she suddenly seemed to snap, and she grabbed onto her and sobbed. "If any of you died..." she sobbed out, her voice high with her agony. "It would _kill_ me. Please, don't do it! _Please, I'm begging you!"_

Asriel hesitated, then moved to them and hugged them both, hugging Frisk from behind.

"Okay, Frisk," he whispered. "I promise."

"Yes, my girl," Toriel whispered. "We promise, too."

She looked up at Asgore, who was still staring at the screen, but he nodded slightly in agreement - despite saying nothing.

He didn't want to lie to her.

"Thank you," Frisk answered, her voice so choked it was almost hard to understand. "Thank you. Just... _thank you..."_

* * *

"How did you even--? Oh, it's you. That's how."

sans looked up and saw Alphys's doctor, Tollona, walk into the room, pausing the moment she saw him, only to relax. He smiled a little from her reaction and stood up.

Dr Tollona sighed. "Should I ask why you're here?"

" _someone_ should be with her," he replied. "at least until undyne is able to. do you know when she can be? i think they could both use it."

Dr Tollona picked up Alphys's chart and read it over for a moment, then replaced it and went to Alphys's side.

"Undyne got shot, too," she said softly, her hands carefully going over Alphys to take her vitals. "But knowing her, she'll want to come as soon as she can. I'm already trying to arrange a way for her to be set up in here with her."

She smiled faintly at that. She had been involved with their family for many, many years, now, and knew her patients very well.

sans sat back down again, silent for a moment. The idea of Undyne being in the same room oddly comforted him.

"tell me the truth, will you?" he then said. "is alphys gonna survive?"

Dr Tollona looked at him from over her shoulder, her face sombre. "Honestly, if it wasn't for her own work, no. She would have died in that house - and she technically _had_ died, Mr sans, and for several minutes, too. That bullet hit her rib and broke it, and in turn that pierced her lung. _That_ should have killed her."

She paused for a moment, then took a bag off of the IV tree and replaced it with fresh medicine. "But when her daughter called and said it was Alphys that was down, someone remembered what she'd always say, and included a DT sample with the emergency crew."

She paused, her voice wavering a little, and she cleared her throat, turning back to Alphys. "The more we give her, the better her vitals get. But we remember what she always said, and we're giving it to her slowly."

sans nodded. "so it's working?"

Dr Tollona nodded, her hand on Alphys's cold one lightly. "It's working. She has no idea what this means, yet, but everything she's worked for, everything she's ever done..."

She smiled sadly. "It worked. She did it. And I'm going to make sure she lives long enough to know it."

sans lowered his head, covering his face and rubbing it slowly. He was shaking a little, realising that he had been on edge, truly afraid of the answer, dreading that it would be the worst possible answer that there could be: that Alphys wouldn't be able to handle the DT, and she would end up just like the Amalgamates.

To hear that not only would she avoid that fate, but also survive from something that truly _should_ have killed her...

"i need to tell undyne," sans realised, lowering his hands from his face. Dr Tollona hesitated, but he continued. "she needs to hear it from me. i don't think she'd believe you if you told her, even if you were the most sincere that you could be. and in the meantime, you can prep the room for her to move in with alphys."

He offered a smile, and she sighed, then nodded.

He stood up, moving to Alphys's other side and touching her other hand lightly for a moment.

"you don't need to tell me where she is," he concluded, before he turned and left the room.

* * *

Undyne was still sleeping when he walked into her room. She looked _terrible_ , especially without her eyepatch; her empty eyesocket was always a little shocking to see, and he was surprised that no one had thought to cover it for her. But then, he also figured that caring about her appearance was at the bottom of their list for things they needed to take care of for her. He decided that the next chance he got, he'd hit the pharmacy and grab one for her.

He sat down beside her and grabbed her hand, squeezing it. It took a while, but slowly, her hand twitched in his, and she stirred, inhaling sharply, her eye opening slowly. She turned and looked over, staring at sans for a moment, as if barely believing that she was seeing him at her side.

She tried to speak, but her voice was still raw, and only a soft squeak came out.

"sup," he said carefully.

Undyne stared at him, her eye dark.

"undyne, listen. i have news for you, okay? and it's good. can you wake up enough to hear it?"

Undyne swallowed hard, closing her eye for a moment before opening it again, this time wider. She shifted, sitting up a little bit more, and she squeezed his hand harder, her jaw clenched. She then nodded.

"as you know, alphys did die. you held her as she did. you, above all of us, know that reality best." sans said, keeping his voice as gentle as possible.

Undyne swallowed again, her face falling, but she nodded. She knew. She remembered. She always would, wanting to or not, and would have nightmares over it for the rest of her life.

Alphys _had_ died. There was no debating it.

"there's a reason she didn't stay dead, and it has nothing to do with the paramedics coming in time, except for one factor: they gave her dt, undyne. and they're still giving it to her."

That wasn't the true reason, but no one, least of all sans, knew that, yet.

Only one person did; that person was in no state to explain it, yet, but even if they could, they would not.

Undyne's eye flared, and she tried so hard to speak, so many things she wanted to say. She struggled to, the sounds painful to them, both, and she gripped his hand so hard he worried she'd break his fingers.

"she's gonna be fine, undyne," he said, interrupting her. "because of her own research, she's gonna be okay. she's not gonna die again anytime soon, okay?"

Undyne nodded and sobbed out then, closing her eye, her other hand going to her mouth. She leaned back and burst into tears, her sobs broken and harsh in her throat, but she held his hand tight.

"there's one more thing you're gonna like," sans said, smiling at her, now.

She opened her eye and stared at him, as if confused by the prospect of there possibly being any more good news.

"they're gonna see if you can be moved into her room with her. your doctor knows how much of a pain in everyone's asses you are when you two are separated. that way, you can protect her, and you can make sure she heals in the right way - and with your help, too."

Undyne sobbed again, grabbing him into a hug and holding onto him tight, sobbing into his shoulder.

sans blinked in surprise, especially since she hadn't hesitated. She tried to talk again, her voice still shattered, but oddly, this time, he understood.

"you're totally welcome, captain," he replied gently, and she uttered a soft, strangled laugh.


	10. But Know, In Some Way, I’m There With You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this chapter will ease a bit of the ouch I put you all through x_x.

"Uh."

Asriel's voice startled them all, especially since he had stopped his constant pacing and was now pointing at the screen.

Pretty much everyone had been sitting in their own reveries, waiting for any kind of news from anyone, be it from a doctor or even sans, but so far they'd heard nothing.

"Are my eyes broken?" Asriel concluded, still pointing at the screen.

Frisk sighed and stood up, going over to his side and looking where he was pointing, putting a hand on his shoulder. Then _she_ blinked in surprise.

"Hey!" she said, her voice sounding a little brighter. "Undyne's been moved, and into the same room as Alphys!"

Basket's head shot up, her eyes going wide. Dandelion, who was awake by now and restless, was surprised by her sister's sudden moves and looked up at her with interest. Basket held Dandelion closer and got to her feet, rushing over to Frisk and Asriel. Her eyes raked over the information, before she turned back to where she sat, grabbed the baby bag, and shot off down the hall, before even Olceal could say anything.

He stood up to follow, but Nicky stopped him.

"No," she said sharply. He winced, and she softened her voice. "Trust me, okay? She needs this. Let her see them alone for now. We'll get our chance."

Olceal studied her for a moment, and she smiled gently. He nodded and sat back down, though he looked at the floor, his eyes wavering.

It was the first time she'd countered his actions like this when it came to Basket, but it also opened something up between them, a bond they now shared that would only strengthen with time - and with Basket.

Frisk nodded in agreement. Asriel was still staring at the screen for whatever reason, as if suspicious that it would change if he stopped looking, and Frisk rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand, dragging him away. He finally sat down beside Nicky, and Frisk sat down on his other side.

"That's something nice," Toriel said gently, now the one holding Asgore, whose eyes were still dark and focused inward. "That's actually rather lovely. I imagine poor Undyne is rather distraught over all of this; for her to be with Alphys is good, indeed."

Asgore shut his eyes, burying his face into her neck, suddenly. He clung onto her, surprising her, and softly, almost silently, he finally wept. He had been holding it in the entire time, but now, oddly, at this, something seemed to crack within him. Frisk stood up and sat down on his other side, now, leaning against him and hugging his arm, and he reached up and touched her cheek gently.

It was then, finally, that Dr Tollona appeared, surprising everyone yet again. They looked up - even Asgore - and the doctor sighed, looking exhausted, but she smiled faintly.

"Thank you so much for being so patient, all of you," she said as a greeting. "If you don't mind a long explanation, and one that has me sitting down, I'll update you on what's been going on."

When of course they nodded, Dr Tollona sat down in front of them, holding two charts in her lap, and began.

* * *

Basket didn't even knock - she just opened the door and flung it open, then threw herself inside, slamming it shut. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim light, but when they did, they filled, and she hugged Dandelion close - who made a surprised noise in reply.

Undyne was sleeping again, beside Alphys. Their beds were pushed together, Undyne's IVs hung up on the other side of the room. One of her hands was holding Alphys's, her fingers laced together with her wife's, and her head was resting on Alphys's bed, her forehead pressed against her shoulder. Someone had given her an eyepatch, which oddly comforted Basket a little.

Undyne looked so peaceful in her sleep, so comfortable, that Basket wanted to cry from that, alone. It was such a contrast from the last time she had seen her, and knew it was because Undyne was finally with Alphys. 

When Basket's eyes fell on Alphys, her throat closed up a little in fear, but the longer she looked, the better she felt. Alphys was still under, still the same way she had been when sans had been with her, but she wasn't as pale as she had been, and she certainly looked better than she had the last time Basket had seen her - that was for sure.

Upon seeing her mothers, Dandelion shrieked, but in happiness, the sound ending in delighted giggles and a couple of claps.

Undyne stirred, then slowly opened her eye, looking up before she sat up carefully, wincing a little.

Basket was moving to her before she even knew it, and Undyne held her arm out to her at once. Basket sat down next to her on the cot and leaned into her embrace, and Undyne held her close. Dandelion reached up and grabbed at Undyne's hair, and Undyne laughed a little hoarsely, leaning down and kissing her on the forehead.

Undyne still couldn't talk yet, but that was okay. She didn't need to yet, anyway. At this moment, all that was needed was comfort, and that she could give, and did with gladness, too.

When Basket looked up at her, then looked at Alphys fearfully, Undyne reached up and brushed the back of her hand over Basket's wet cheek, smiling faintly and nodding.

Basket's eyes flared in shock. "Are... is she... she'll b-be... okay?!" she stammered.

Undyne nodded again, closing her eye briefly, the smile remaining. Basket lowered her head and both sobbed and laughed, her heart aching with relief.

Dandelion squirmed a little, noticing Alphys and trying to crawl over to her, her sharp eyes focused on that goal alone, and Undyne scooped her from Basket's arms and carefully held her, wincing again from the sharp pain it brought her shoulder. That seemed to distract Dandelion away from Alphys for the moment, and she looked up and grinned at Undyne - who grinned back - reaching up and pulling on her eyepatch immediately.

Basket took the time to stand up again and go to Alphys's other side, noticing the IV of DT. She stared at it, recognising it as the same thing that she had seen at the house.

_So I wasn't just seeing things - I really did see them give her something, after all._

She looked away, her eyes falling on Alphys again, and she took her mum's other hand, holding it tight. There was no reaction, which hurt a bit, but it was okay.

Alphys _would_ wake up, and there would be plenty of time to catch up on all of the time missed, then.

When she could, she sat back down with Undyne, who was lying back with Dandelion, now, propped up against several pillows to remain sitting up; Dandelion was lying on her chest, looking rather content and close to sleeping, which surprised Basket. Undyne, however, looked pleased, her eye closed and her arm around Dandelion, her other hand stroking her hair gently.

Basket sat down on the cot and curled up beside her mom at her side, like she used to as a child after a nightmare.

Undyne opened her eye and reached down, touching the top of her head briefly, before she resumed trying to get Dandelion to sleep. Her other hand moved back to Alphys's and once more tangled their fingers together, her eye now open and moving between her daughters. 

Basket smiled, feeling a true flower of hope blossom again deep within her breast, and she let it bloom.

* * *

Once Dr Tollona finished explaining everything, Olceal was the one who reacted, first, which shocked everyone: he got up and hugged the doctor.

"Thank you," he murmured tearfully. "You saved my family. _Thank you."_

Everyone stared at him, shocked. It was then that they truly got a glimpse into Olceal's personality, a rare thing, indeed. Over the years, they had grown to know him, yes, but as Basket's boyfriend and not much else. They knew he lived alone with his mother, Tally, and had lost his father at a very young age, as well as had some trouble making and keeping friends growing up.

Until that very moment, none of them had had any idea just how much Basket - and in turn, those related to her - meant to him, especially Undyne and Alphys. He had been keeping himself so calm through this the whole time for Basket, but now, clearly, he couldn't keep that calm anymore.

It was something Nickname not only noticed, but never forgot.

Dr Tollona, shocked at first, then took it in stride. She patted his back gently and said, "Of course. I love them, too."

He nodded and pulled back, keeping his head lowered and his face averted, and he sat back down, covering his face with his hands, hunched over.

Very gently, Nicky touched his shoulder, and he briefly touched her hand in gratitude. It would be one of many touches, now, all growing with significance as time went by - and starting now.

Asgore was sitting up, his eyes wide. "I can't believe it," he murmured. "After all that she went through, in the end... It actually was _worth_ something, after all."

Asriel nodded. "Speaking as someone who was also directly affected by Alphys's experiments, I have to say, I'm also really glad for this. If anyone deserved to benefit from it all, it's her."

Frisk was staring off at nothing, her hands folded in front of her mouth, so that her words were muffled. "Do you have any idea what this _truly_ means?" she said. "How many lives she just saved, by dying, herself? So many monsters who could have been saved easily before they became dust... so many lives wasted... and now..."

Her eyes closed, her expression bittersweet. "This is amazing. _This is so amazing..."_

Nicky, however, was oddly quiet, until she said, softly, "Do you know where sans is now, Doctor?"

Dr Tollona shook her head. "No. After we moved Undyne, he said he wanted to get some... relish?"

Nicky blinked, then hesitated. She turned to her parents. "I need to talk to him. Do you guys mind if I go find him? And hopefully Papyrus, too, so they can finally meet up?"

Asriel blinked at her, confused, but Frisk nodded. "When you do, tell them to come back with you, too."

Nicky nodded in return and left, looking very sombre. Asriel watched her leave, about to say something, but Frisk looked up at him and shook her head, and he closed his mouth.

"I should probably go back as well," Dr Tollona said gently. "If their daughters are in there with them, I should make sure that they're not being overwhelming and such. If anything changes, I'll let you know. But right now, it's probably going to be hours before there are any changes. Now would be a good time to go home and get some rest if you need it."

She stood up, giving Olceal's shoulder a gentle squeeze, and left.

Frisk grabbed her phone and texted Nicky: _"Nicky, honey, it's time we went back and got some rest. Do you want us to wait for you, to bring you with us, or will you catch a ride with Papyrus and sans?"_

There was a pause, then, _"With Papyrus and sans. I found them, and Papyrus seems... pretty happy about the idea. Lol. I'll see you once I get back. Love you all. <3"_

"We should get home," Frisk then said.

Asriel eyed her closely; there was something in her eyes, something lit deep within them, and he knew she wanted to say something - but was clearly holding herself back.

"Yeah..." he agreed. "I think so, too. It's late, and it's been a really, really long night."

Toriel and Asgore looked at each other, and Asgore nodded. Toriel touched his face gently, and he leaned into her touch.

"Yeah ," she agreed. "Let's go home." She then looked at her daughter and raised her eyebrow, looking unimpressed. "And you can tell us exactly what you keep holding back once we're there."

Asriel snorted, smirking, and Frisk blushed, but nodded.

Together, just as they had arrived, they went home, only in far better spirits than they had come.

* * *

Nicky found sans and Papyrus exactly where she expected to find them: the cafeteria.

Papyrus was sitting in front of what looked like spaghetti alfredo, and sans had found his relish, although oddly it was on a plate. She grabbed a coffee and a plain doughnut, then walked over and joined them. Papyrus blinked up at her in surprise, then grinned, but sans looked, as usual, without surprise, though he also looked pleased to see her. She sat down beside Papyrus and greeted them both.

"So I take it you both already know about Auntie Alphys?" she wondered, dunking her doughnut into her coffee.

"SANS WAS JUST TELLING ME," Papyrus agreed, looking so happy it seemed like there were tears in his eyes, his smile so bright. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE IF ALPHYS HADN'T MADE IT. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN..."

He covered his face with his hands and made a choking noise, and Nicky patted his shoulder in concern, her heart aching a little. Clearly, Alphys meant a great deal to him, too.

sans nodded. "yep. the world would immediately suck," he agreed, spooning up some relish. "but we don't have to face that, yet, bro. so calm down, will ya? you're gonna soak your noodles."

Papyrus pulled his hands away in surprise, his tears stopping right away. The last thing he wanted was to ruin perfectly good pasta.

Nicky looked at sans, now, her smile fading. Her hand dropped from Papyrus's shoulder, and she said, "Those eyes were _Alphys's_. And Undyne's were the black eyes. They were the ones I saw."

sans paused, then lowered his spoon, nodding slowly. "so it would seem," he agreed softly.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Papyrus wondered.

sans pulled out his phone, pulled up the picture of Nicky's notes, and handed it over for him to read.

"and," sans added, "you were right about carlson. he has dt."

Nicky nodded, biting down on her lip, hard. She looked down at her coffee, staring at the swirls of sugar that now circled the top from her dunking. "Which means... Mami will..."

sans looked up at her again. "it seems that way, nick. everything else you saw has happened. everything. the only thing that hasn't is frisk and that gun."

Papyrus lowered the phone and handed it back to his brother, who didn't take it at first. "WHERE WOULD FRISK EVEN _GET_ A GUN?" he wondered, looking deeply confused. "YOU CAN'T BUY THEM!"

sans smiled. "that's exactly what she said, too."

"But, Uncle sans," Nicky protested. "She held the gun. She was going to fire. She looked like it was going to kill her, but she was going to do it."

"BUT _DID_ SHE?" Papyrus wondered.

Both sans and Nicky looked at him, startled, and he blinked.

"WELL? DID SHE ACTUALLY FIRE THE GUN IN YOUR VISION?"

Nicky stared at him, sudden hope filling her. "No. She was just... holding it, looking ready to shoot. But she didn't fire."

"SO WHY ARE YOU SO SURE SHE _WILL?"_ he wondered, holding out a hand. "EVERYTHING YOU SAW CAME TRUE, YES. BUT FRISK DIDN'T SHOOT. SO ALL WE KNOW IS THAT SHE GETS A GUN, AND SHE AIMS IT AT SOMEONE, AND DOESN'T _WANT_ TO DO IT."

sans beamed at his brother, smiling. "bro, you're... really smart."

"OF COURSE I AM," Papyrus replied with a grin. "I HAVE TO BE, AFTER ALL. I'M THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS TEACHER IN TORIEL'S SCHOOL, AND CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD. IT COMES WITH BOTH, AFTER ALL."

Nicky leaned over and hugged him, smiling so happily and feeling so relieved that tears came to her eyes, and sans grabbed one of his hands tight. He looked embarrassed, but also rather thrilled.

She let him go, and they finished their snack together in far better spirits, indeed.

For a day that began in such agony, it certainly ended better on all sides.

* * *

Basket woke up to a hand on her shoulder, rubbing gently. She opened her eyes and looked up, and Olceal was kneeling in front of her, looking at her with a small smile. She smiled at him in return, reaching forward and touching his cheek.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered. She was still curled up against Undyne, who was now asleep along with Dandelion; clearly sleep had caught them all.

"I came to take you home," he said softly. "You and Dandelion."

Basket nodded, rubbing her eyes behind her glasses and sitting up slowly.

Undyne stirred awake at that, her eye opening right away, her grip tightening on Dandelion. She started upon seeing Olceal, then calmed, relaxing and giving him a warm smile.

"Mommy," Basket said to her, "we're gonna head home, okay?"

The door opened as she said that, and Dr Tollona blinked at them. "You're leaving?" she wondered. "Basket, I was actually just coming to get you. I've set it up so that you can stay the night here, you and Dandelion, so that if Dandelion needs care - formula or supplies - we can provide it for you, and you can stay close to your mothers."

Basket stared at her, her eyes filling with tears. She sat frozen, her hand now on her chest, and she nodded right away.

Undyne sat up slowly, smiling up at Dr Tollona, who looked at her with added surprise.

"You're awake?" she wondered. "But... aren't you in pain?"

Undyne snorted, rolling her eye, and gestured to Dandelion, who was drooling on her chest, still. She opened her mouth, and to everyone's surprise, she managed to say, her voice barely a whisper, "...good bed... for Lioness..."

Then she smiled.

Dr Tollona went over to her immediately, surprising her. "Basket, can you take your sister for a moment?" Basket did carefully, so as not to wake her, standing up to give her space.

The doctor leaned down and touched Undyne's throat. Undyne winced but didn't pull away, and when the doctor asked her to open her mouth and she did, she looked down it with a scope and made a surprised noise.

When she stepped back from Undyne, Undyne was wearing a sour expression, clearly ill-amused.

"...problem?" she wondered.

"Undyne, you..." Dr Tollona hesitated. "I need your honesty, alright? Have you... been injected with DT?"

Undyne went pale, her expression falling, and she looked away quickly, biting her lip. Her grip on Alphys's hand tightened, and she gritted her teeth, refusing to answer.

"Undyne," the doctor insisted. "Please, I need to know."

"Mom?" Basket added, sounding confused.

Undyne looked over at Alphys, before she closed her eye and whispered, "...yes."

Dr Tollona started in shock. She had asked, yes, but she hadn't expected a confirmation. "Undyne, when did this happen?"

Undyne bit down on her lip, still staring at Alphys. "It was..." She hesitated, her other hand clenching at her side. "Alphy was scared... worried about me..."

She finally looked back at the doctor, her eye narrowed, as if daring her to challenge her. " _Before_ Frisk fell... "

She paused, looking back to her wife again. "Alphy told me... it would make me strong... give me the will to live, even if I lost it... Didn't know, really, what it was, but... I trusted her... always..."

The doctor stared at her. "And you never thought, in any of this time, to ever tell anyone, least of all me, your _doctor?!"_

Undyne looked at her again, but this time her face went red in shame. "Didn't seem to use it, so... didn't seem important..."

"No wonder you heal so fast!" Dr Tollona breathed out, her hand on her forehead. "Good _god!_ Your wife is brilliant, but she took quite a risk!"

Undyne glared at her, furious. "Alphy did what she thought was right!" she snarled, her voice breaking and sounding harsh. Her hand went to her throat, coughing, but she went on. "And she _was_ right! She _was!"_

She choked, coughing so hard she hunched over, and Dr Tollona steadied her, holding her hand over her throat, summoning up a gentle glow of her magic to soothe her. She gasped for a moment, but still she glared at the doctor.

"Mom, stop. It's okay. Stop," Basket pleaded, holding Dandelion closer in her worry. Olceal was standing behind her, looking worried but speechless from it, unsure of what to say, let alone do.

"Undyne," Dr Tollona said gently. "I'm sorry. You're right. Alphys ended up doing the right thing for you, but she also took a huge risk. It explains quite a bit, though. Please, I'm sorry." She lowered her hand.

Undyne stared at her for a moment, then nodded slowly. "...okay..." she grated out.

"W-well," Basket broke in, trying to smile. "N-now you and Mummy m-match!"

Undyne stared at her, then laughed, her hand going to her chest. She leaned back onto the pillows, her laughter still hoarse and broken, but real. She winced a little, feeling pain in her shoulder now as well as her throat, but she couldn't stop for quite some time.

It woke Dandelion, who looked over at her sleepily for a moment, before she rested her head back on her sister and fell back asleep.

Basket giggled a little, and both Olceal and Dr Tollona smiled.

"In any case, it's good you're healing," Dr Tollona said gently. "But you need to sleep, now. Basket, if you want, your fiance can stay with you overnight as well."

Olceal hesitated. "I... would love to, but I need to get back to my mom. She's worried about me. Like always." He smiled shyly.

Basket reached up and touched his cheek gently, nodding. She understood completely. "Of course, Olly. Please, give her all of the hugs for me, okay?"

He leaned into her hand and nodded, so grateful that she always understood, and never mocked or teased him for it. 

"When you're ready, Basket, I'll take you and Dandelion to the room I mentioned. It's on the same floor as this, so you won't be far, okay?" The doctor touched her shoulder gently. "I'll wait outside for you."

She left

Undyne sighed, covering her eyes with her arm _. "F_ _uck,"_ she muttered. "Was hoping... no one would know..."

Basket sat down on the bed again beside her and frowned at her, and she lowered her arm and looked at her, embarrassed. "Mom, I can't _believe_ you! You and Mum really _were_ as crazy as they all say when you were young, _weren't_ you?!"

Undyne grinned. "We grew up?" was her reply.

Basket glared at her, and Undyne sat up and hugged her gently, giving her a kiss, then leaned down and gave Dandelion a kiss on her sleeping head.

"Love you, Peridot," Undyne murmured, her eye wavering with pride. "You're so brave... You're my hero..."

"You're _my_ hero! I'm so happy you're both okay, Mommy," Basket whispered. "You have no idea. I was so scared. Please, don't do that _ever_ again, okay?"

"Never again," Undyne promised.

She meant it, too. She would fail, but she still meant it. 

Basket pulled away and smiled at her, and she smiled back. She stood up and went over to Alphys, leaning down and kissing her forehead lightly.

"Goodnight, Mummy," she whispered. "I love you, too."

Then, she took Olceal's hand and walked out with him, closing the door gently.

She went to the room with Dr Tollona, where a small cot, crib, and changing table were set up. Olceal said, "I'll come by tomorrow with more clothes for you and whatever you need, okay? Just text me."

She nodded, and they kissed, before she and Dandelion were left alone.

Basket very gently changed the sleepy Dandelion, then lay her down on the crib. She curled up on the cot, quite certain she wouldn't be able to sleep, but found herself under almost in minutes.

She clearly needed it.

* * *

That night, Undyne lay curled up next to Alphys as close as she could, burying her face into her wife's shoulder. She couldn't put her arm around her like she wanted because of her shoulder, but she held Alphys's hand tight, listening to the breathing machine and the heart monitor and allowing those sounds to soothe her.

"Alphy," she whispered, "if you can hear me, _please_ , wake up, soon. I miss you so much. I'm so glad you're safe. If you'd died... Alphy, if you had died... I would've... I would've..."

Her voice choked up with tears, and she shut her eye, allowing herself to break down.

She cried herself to sleep, holding Alphys's hand throughout the entire night, but she slept, her dreams free of nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm very aware that the idea that Undyne being injected with DT is very much outside of canon, but I've been hinting at it since "Learning Your Lessons", so I knew I had to bring it up into light, finally. It's always been part of my headcanon, even when it was proven to be wrong, so forgive me for that stretch. Er... yeah. That's all!


	11. Your Heart Is The Only Place That I Call Home

Toriel, the moment they got home, made everyone strong tea. She knew that they would be up for quite a while longer, and since Frisk refused to discuss what she wanted to discuss until Nicky got home, strong tea would be needed, indeed.

When Nicky, sans, and Papyrus came into New Home, she handed them each a mug of tea, which they took into the living room without question. Frisk, Asriel, and Asgore were already sitting down, Asgore looking sleepy despite the tea, but Asriel looking very alert, keeping his gaze on his wife.

Frisk, however, looked sombre, her eyes dark.

Once everyone was settled, Frisk looked at her daughter and said, "Everything you saw came true, Nickname. Except one thing."

"Yeah," Nicky agreed softly. "sans and Papyrus and I were talking about that, actually. Everything but you and the gun."

Asgore and Toriel looked at each other in confusion, then looked at Nicky. "What are you talking about?" Toriel demanded.

Asgore, however, looked oddly pale, staring at his granddaughter as though his vision had become glued to her.

sans sighed, grabbed his phone, and gave it to Toriel. She and Asgore looked at the list together, and Asgore looked even worse, now. But he said nothing, his eyes instead now staring into his cup.

Toriel, however, remained staring at the phone, her face actually angry. "You saw all of this," she said, her voice wavering _, "all_ of it, _alone?"_

She looked up, her face still angry, at Nicky, who looked suddenly pale. "Why did you not tell myself or your grandfather?"

"Because..." Nicky bit her lip, then looked down. "Because... I didn't want any of it to be true. And I didn't want to bother either of you in case in did. I hadn't wanted Mami or Papi to know, either."

And here she shot a sharp look at sans, who merely shrugged in reply.

Frisk, however, gave her daughter a similar look to Toriel's. "I'm glad he told me," she answered. "You shouldn't be afraid to tell anyone about things like this, Nickname."

Asgore suddenly said, his voice hollow, "When did you have this dream, Nicky?"

She blinked and told him, and he stared at her, his expression not changing.

"I see," he said, in that same voice.

"Yes," he added, after a pensive moment. "It would have been best had you told us as soon as possible, indeed."

A silence fell at that, everyone now looking at him in both confusion and curiosity.

He lowered his gaze from his granddaughter to his tea and took a long swig of it, as if hoping it would give him courage.

He wished it did.

He wished he could find the courage to say what he wanted to say.

Nicky's eyes, however, were keen and on him, and he could feel them on him. He looked at them, looked into the eyes of his granddaughter.

_Those same eyes that she has inherited from my son... Those same eyes my son has inherited from my beloved wife. Those same eyes that were unique to her, that prior to her, no one ever had..._

_Until now..._

_And perhaps one more time...?_

And he sighed, deeply, lowering his now-empty mug.

"I have it," he said finally, his voice low, so low that, for a hopeful moment, they all thought they had misheard him.

Except Nicky.

Her face fell, and her eyes darkened with tears.

Toriel turned to him, her eyes blazing. "You have _what,_ Asgore?" she demanded.

But he didn't look away from Nicky. He stayed silent, shame rippling through his entire body like he had swallowed liquid fire.

"Papi," Frisk said slowly. "Tell me you didn't say what I heard you say."

He didn't reply, and Nicky bit her lip, hard, her fangs sinking in so deep that he was afraid they would break the skin.

"Ehmpa..." she whispered, and a stab of deep pain lanced his heart when he heard it: disappointment, and fear.

"Where the fuck would you even _get_ such a thing?!" Asriel exploded, getting to his feet and rounding on his father.

Asgore looked up at him and saw not just anger, but _terror_.

 _"Why_ the fuck _would_ you, Dad?!" He shouted it, but despite the fury in those words, his voice broke painfully on the last one.

Oddly, sans and Papyrus were silent, though Papyrus stared at him as though he didn't recognise him.

sans, however, glanced at him with a strange mix of disgust - and respect. 

Disgust, because Asgore had his own methods of doing these kinds of things, from both habit as well as preservation (his own and his family's), and he'd instead been secretive, and thus had placed himself and that family into direct harm, and for the _worst_ reasons.

Despite being disbanded, the Watchers, himself included, would always be a call away from returning to their roles for the King they adored.

But he also felt deep respect, because Asgore had seen a problem, a solution to that problem, and hadn't hesitated to use that solution, regardless of the consequences. 

It was, to sans, demented nobility. 

"Asgore, what the hell is _wrong_ with you?!" Toriel shouted, dropping her tea to the floor and not even caring when it splashed against her feet, staining the fur there light brown.

Everyone looked at him in silence, wearing varying degrees of agreement with Toriel, and he was silent for a moment, his heart aching with shame - but not regret.

He knew he would've done the same thing over if given the chance. 

Finally, he whispered _, "It has to end_. That was my _only_ thought, truly. I panicked. I _wasn't_ thinking..."

He hesitated, then added, "Where or how I got it doesn't matter, nor does it matter where it is, now. I..." He shut his eyes, the words burning this throat - because it was exactly the opposite of what he _truly_ _wanted_ to do. "I will get rid of it."

Frisk stared at him oddly, her eyes dark.

A thousand thoughts seemed to fly through her mind at that, and suddenly, the pain in his face seemed to open a wound within her heart. He looked so old, then, so drained and tired, so full of the pain of so many years - _countless_ years - of that pain.

No one noticed her looking at him this way - not even sans - as they were all staring at Asgore in their own ways.

And suddenly, Frisk knew.

She knew there was no controlling fate.

She knew there was no possible way to flee when faced with a fight.

The words came to her mouth, left it, but inside her mind, she knew they created only lies. "Return the gun from wherever you found it, Papi. We don't need it, and I certainly don't want it. We trust you will. Just don't tell us where it went, and we'll forget it ever happened."

"But, Frisk--," Asriel growled.

"He made a mistake. A huge one," Frisk answered.

Now she was finally being honest, and her face softened as she looked at her father. She stood up, went over to him, and leaned down, hugging onto him hard.

He looked shocked and didn't react, until she said gently, "It's okay, Papi. We're scared, too. Just get rid of it. I forgive you, Papi-Gorey."

Asgore stared up at her, as if unable to believe his luck at hearing those words from her. He reached up and cupped her face into his hands, his eyes filling with tears.

She stared back at him, her own searching his, and she smiled faintly. "I love you, Papi. I just don't want you to get hurt, okay? _None_ of us do. This _would_ hurt you. Please, get rid of it, okay?"

He nodded. "Yes," he agreed, his voice breaking. "I... I'm..."

He shut his eyes and held onto his daughter tight, bursting into tears, feeling so ashamed and sorry, and she held him close.

Soon, they both felt Toriel gently come close and hug onto them, her hands still a little hot with her initial anger, but her pain had cooled them with regret of her own.

Asriel then crashed into her, and Nicky crashed into _him_ , and soon the entire chair was buried in Dreemurrs, their shared fear and grief too much to bear alone - and only manageable _this_ way.

Papyrus was also crying, but he was trying to hide it by looking into his mug. He wanted to hug them, too, but he also respected and valued the deep artery of familial blood that connected the Dreemurrs together - but not to himself. Therefore, instead, he reached down and grabbed hold of his brother's shoulder and held tight - his own artery.

sans, however, was staring at Asgore, still, his eyes dim, wearing that same curious expression.

He, after all, knew his king, and had known him for quite some time, in many different capacities, too. 

He knew this wasn't over.

But when the group moved apart and it was deemed time for the night to end, he grabbed Papyrus's hand and pulled him to his feet, offering his shoulder for support as the taller skeleton wept, still. Papyrus took the offer, relieved and feeling better, already, and that helped comfort sans, too. 

sans only looked back once, and saw, to his surprise, that both Asgore and Frisk stared at each other, wearing the exact same expression, one that sent chills down his spine.

But one he didn't have time to comment on - or understand - it, yet.

So he let it go - and regretted it. 

* * *

That night, when their children and grandchild were asleep, Asgore offered to sleep on the couch.

Toriel froze, staring at him from the bed, before she glared at him.

 _"Get in this bed, Dreemurr,"_ she snarled.

He obeyed, sitting in his spot next to her but keeping away from her, afraid to touch her. He was still ashamed, and he felt that even touching her was more than he deserved. He said nothing.

"Asgore," Toriel then said, her voice far softer. He looked up, and she took his hand into her own, dragging it toward her and to her face. "Do you remember what I told you in the hospital, when Frisk got shot?"

He stared at her. Of _course_ he did. He nodded.

Her eyes suddenly seemed to light on fire, and her hand became warm as well. "Next time," she said, her voice calm, but no less scorching, "you _include_ me, and we will do it, _together_ , before anyone can stop us. _That_ is the true reason why I'm so _angry_ at you, husband. Not because you have a gun, but because you were going to use it alone."

She paused, then, her voice going rather soft for a moment, and her eyes wavered. "Am I not your wife? Are we not partners?"

"We are," he answered hoarsely, his hand suddenly curving around her cheek.

"Then, _dammit_ , Asgore," she growled, baring her fangs at him. "Stop taking everything all unto yourself! I am _you_ , and you are _me_. _We_ are in this _together."_

She grabbed his other hand and pulled it toward her, and he leaned into her embrace, suddenly clinging onto her and burying his face into her chest, feeling painful tears bubble up from deep within his breast.

"We can no longer sit around and let them try this on their own, Gorey," she whispered into his light hair. "You and I... We must do it, now, ourselves."

Asgore nodded, gritting his teeth. "We'll kill him, together, Tori," he whispered.

"Yes," she agreed, her voice like steel. "We will."

* * *

The next morning was strangely beautiful. It was a clear, calm day, one that had a blue sky and puffy white clouds skirting across the horizon. It was almost impossible not to feel a sense of optimism when faced with such a sky, even after the facing the darkest of nights.

When Undyne woke up slowly, she knew it was because something was different and strange. Her shoulder still hurt, though the pain was of course dulled by IV medicine, and her throat was feeling better, too.

But that wasn't it. She wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, so she hesitated before doing anything, wondering if she could pinpoint what woke her.

Then, she got her answer, and her entire body flooded with butterflies and shock: her hand was being held in return.

Her eye snapped open and she sat up quickly, wincing from pain but barely feeling it. She moved closer to Alphys, pushing herself over on her knees, her heart racing, and she leaned down, the hand that was holding Alphys's squeezing tight.

Again, she got a squeeze back, and she cried out, leaning down and pressing her forehead to Alphys's.

Though she still wore the breathing mask, at some point in the night, the automatic oxygen had been disabled, and now pumped small amounts of it instead of a constant flow; Alphys was now breathing on her own.

When Undyne's forehead touched Alphys's, she saw her eyelids flicker a little, and again she got a weak squeeze to her hand.

 _"Alphy,"_ Undyne sobbed, her other hand going up and touching her wife's cheek, stroking the skin softly.

In reply, she got a long, slow sigh and another squeeze.

"Alphy, oh _god..."_  The words were barely words, but she felt a tiny shift of a nod, and she broke down and wept.

Alphys held onto her hand as tight as possible through it, and she, too, cried a little, small tears falling from her closed eyes and onto her pillow.

Neither knew how long they lay together that way, but eventually, Dr Tollona came in to check up on them and stopped in the doorway, freezing in shock.

Neither looked up or moved - it was unlikely they even noticed she had come in at all, until she spoke.

"You're kidding," she murmured, her voice small. "Alphys... you're...?"

She darted over to Alphys's side and leaned down, and Undyne's eye opened slowly before she started a little in surprise (Tollona could be _fast_ if she chose to be), sitting up suddenly, still weeping... But she was grinning, too.

Dr Tollona took Alphys's other hand and said, very carefully, "Alphys, if you can hear me--,"

Alphys squeezed before she even finished, her eyelids flickering again.

"Holy _shit,"_ the doctor concluded. "If you can, open your eyes. Can you?"

It took longer, Undyne holding her other hand carefully to her cheek, but slowly, Alphys managed to open her eyes just a bit. They were dull with medication and pain, but there was no trace of grey; they were their regular colour.

Slowly, they shifted over, not to the doctor, but to Undyne.

Undyne stared back, her heart stuttering with joy, and she grinned so wide it hurt.

"Hi," she whispered, and Alphys shifted a little. "Hi, Alphy. Welcome back, cutie."

Alphys blinked slowly, sighing again with clear annoyance, before she opened them again. Undyne remained before her, and when Alphys's hand twitched against her cheek a little,  Undyne felt her heart's rate increase with relief. 

Dr Tollona looked over at Undyne, looking as if she had just been smacked in the face. "Last night, when you were both sleeping, the nurses checked on her and found that she was able to breathe on her own, so they adjusted the oxygen. It was a good sign, we all agreed, but... I would never have thought it would mean..."

She turned back and stared at the IV of DT, now speechless.

Alphys was still staring at Undyne, refusing to look away, and Undyne was the same way. Neither had really heard what the doctor had said, too much passing between them with that look, alone.

"At this rate," Dr Tollona continued, anyway, "You'll be ready to go home in a week. Which is... insane. It's insane. It's absolutely..." She rubbed her forehead. "I'll be back. I need to tell your daughters."

Undyne nodded, her only sign that she had heard that, and Dr Tollona rushed off, as if a fire had been lit beneath her.

"Alphy," Undyne whispered, shifting back to her side and pressing against her side as best as she could.

Alphys's eyes closed briefly, her hand gripping tighter and trying to tug a little in encouragement. So, she rested her cheek against Alphys's and closed her eye, her other hand now brushing over Alphys's forehead slowly, and she felt Alphys sigh, comforted at once.

Then, very gently, as though walking through a live minefield, she said, "It worked, sweetie."

Alphys blinked at her, her eyes opening a bit more. Confusion clouded them.

All she could remember, before now, was seeing her wife looking beautiful but dangerous - and horribly sad.

She remembered _knowing_ she was dying, feeling so sad and scared about it, but so relieved that Undyne had survived and would still be there for Basket and Dandelion.

She had felt so much pain, so much regret...

Then, nothing. Nothing at all.

Until, suddenly, she heard what sounded like beeping, and felt heavy and sore but confused.

She could even feel her own hands... and felt a cool, familiar hand holding one of them, and she grabbed tight, desperately, relief and love filling her so much that she could ignore the pain.

That hand was and always would be better than morphine could _ever_ be.

But what had worked? She didn't understand that.

Undyne could tell, and she smiled, closing her eye for a moment. "My love, your research. Determination. It saved you, and it saved me. We're both still alive because of it."

Alphys's eyes flared, shock filling her. She stared up at Undyne, searching her face desperately and squeezing her hand so tight it almost hurt a little. She tried to speak, but only succeeded in making a strange muffled noise, and Undyne shushed her gently.

"Calm down," she advised. "I'll tell you everything. Just relax, and listen."

Alphys nodded a little, and Undyne began.

* * *

Basket had woken up early to Dandelion's confused crying. She dragged herself out of the bed she was in, for a moment not remembering where she was, until she had her glasses back on and had focused.

And suddenly, everything came back.

She paused in her surprise, her hand going to her chest and rubbing over her heart, closing her eyes and trembling a little, the memories so fresh and graphic that she felt rather faint and nauseated.

Until, upon seeing her, Dandelion made a sharp noise at her, and Bass looked at her sister, calming down with a smile. She went to her baby sister right away, scooping her up and holding her close, something that made Dandy smile brightly and cling to her. 

"Morning, you silly fluff," Basket whispered affectionately, and Dandelion headbutted her in reply, her short tail wagging fast.

Basket hugged her close for a moment, her eyes closed and filled with horrific images of holding Dandelion similarly, as she watched her world change with two bullets...

It took a moment for her to collect herself, but when she had, she then went to the changing table and started their day with shrieks of tickling joy, puffs of baby powder tickling their noses.

At one point, when Basket had leaned down close enough (she was adjusting the jumper over Dandelion's little chest), Dandelion gurgled and grabbed hold of Basket's head, her tiny hands gripping tightly onto her hair and pulling. 

And instead of getting annoyed and prising her hands away, Basket suddenly froze in place, her eyes filling with tears and staring right up into her sister's, whose own were full of focus and purpose. She reached down and touched Dandelion's cheek with one finger, getting her attention - and a grin of triumph - and Basket laughed tearfully, kissing that little face all over and making her squeal and squirm in glee. 

Once she had been given formula for Dandelion, it was a struggle for a moment to get Dandelion to actually drink it, clearly not happy at the prospect. However, when in a similar position, Basket hadn't relented or given up her protesting.

Dandelion did, immediately, and latched onto the bottle almost out of spite. However, once she began to drink, her hands reached up and held onto it, and she drank quite happily, which made Basket roll her eyes but smile a little.

There was a knock on the door as she was burping Dandelion, and, with a jab of worry, she opened it.

Dr Tollona stood there looking as if she had been hit by a whirlwind. "Good," she said, seeing them both awake. "Come with me, will you? Leave everything, it'll be safe, just follow me."

Fear made Basket mute, and she clutched Dandelion to her as she followed the doctor back to her mothers' room, further increasing the fear. Dr Tollona opened the door and gestured for her to enter first, and she did, shaking by now. She looked in, holding Dandelion in a way so that she couldn't see anything - and froze.

Undyne looked up from where she was, still cuddling Alphys, and she grinned brightly in greeting.

Undyne had just finished explaining everything to Alphys, and Alphys was leaning her head against hers, her eyes closed and her tears still falling softly, her hand now reaching up and being held against Undyne's cheek by Undyne, herself.

"Mummy?" Basket whispered.

Slowly, like a sleepwalker, she walked into the room, and Alphys opened her eyes and looked over. They lit up once they fell on both of her daughters, and she squeezed Undyne's hand, just a little. 

Dandelion turned and looked around, then, when she saw her parents, squirmed desperately, making angry noises and trying to free herself from her sister's grip to get to their mum. Basket sat down on Alphys's other side, and Dandelion kept squirming, so hard that she was giving Basket quite the hard time.

She made loud sounds of discontent, before she started to cry, her small hands reaching out to Alphys - who stared at Dandelion and looked stunned.

"It's alright, Basket," Dr Tollona said gently. "Just keep your hold on her and she can sit in Alphys's lap, okay?"

Dandelion was finally let go of for the moment, and she immediately crawled onto Alphys and sat up in her lap, sitting down and clapping happily, gazing up at Alphys and beaming.

Alphys's other hand reached down shakily and lightly touched Dandelion's cheek, and Dandelion grabbed her finger and clutched it tight, her sharp eyes practically glued on her mum - whose eyes were glued to hers.

"Mummy? You-you're awake?" Basket repeated, hunching over and resting her forehead onto Alphys's shoulder. One hand was on her sister, but the other was on her mum's arm, and Alphys's eyes closed for a moment, sniffling, before she smiled a little and gave Undyne a look, which made Undyne laugh.

 _That_ was Basket in a nutshell, really.

Dandelion curled up into a ball in Alphys's lap like a cat all of a sudden, which surprised the rest of her family. Her small hands clung to Alphys's thigh, and within moments, she was asleep again as they watched.

Alphys made a noise then, and they realised it was a small laugh. She touched the top of Dandelion's head and gently stroked her hair.

"That... works, too," Dr Tollona smiled. She picked up Alphys's chart and made a few notes, then replaced it. "I need to take your vitals, Alphys, so Undyne and Basket, I need to you both move for a moment."

Basket and Undyne moved away, Basket going over to Undyne's cot to sit down beside her and give her a hug. Alphys's eyes were finally open fully, and though they were dull and dark, still, they were her own, and very comforting to see.

"Hm," the doctor said slowly. She looked at Alphys. "We should probably stop the DT, now, then, shouldn't we?"

Alphys nodded right away. She tried to speak again, but then made a face and sighed, and just nodded again.

She knew the consequences of too much of it too well, and didn't want to risk it even the slightest.

She gestured to the IV, then to her arm, before she waved her hand a little and then made it look flat in the air.

"Oh!" Undyne said, smiling faintly. "'Finish the bag and then stop the DT.' Right?"

Alphys turned to her and nodded gratefully, her eyes warm. She placed her hand back on Dandelion's head, who, in her sleep, shifted closer and sighed a little.

Undyne leaned down and covered that hand with her own, making Alphys sniffle and close her eyes again briefly.

Undyne smiled affectionately, her eye wavering.

She knew. She _always_ knew. She always _would_.

Dr Tollona nodded. "That sounds good. It should be done in an hour, and then we have to keep very close eye on you, okay? Just in case. This... this has never been done before... Not successfully..."

Alphys nodded again, her eyes serious. She knew the risks, probably better than anyone else.

Undyne bit her lip, squeezing Alphys's hand tight for a moment. She didn't like the reminder that things could go wrong, after coming this far.

But then, everyone in that room knew that if it had to be tested on anyone, Alphys was glad it was her and no one else.

It was a risk, but it was one she would have taken had she been asked, anyway.

"But," Dr Tollona added gently, seeing the expressions on Basket and Undyne's faces _, "this_ hasn't happened, as well, before, has it? I think it's a good sign, one we should take and hold close, don't you think?"

Alphys nodded, her eyes getting a steel, violet glint to them.

For a moment, Undyne stared at her; she wasn't sure she'd get used to seeing that.

But, oh, she was _definitely_ looking forward to it once she did.

"Alright. Let me know once the bag is almost done, and I'll either come by or have someone unhook it. I need to file this down, but I'll be back in about an hour or so, okay?"

When she got more nods, the doctor left.

Undyne was about to curl around Alphys again, but Basket crawled closer and beat her to it, giving Alphys as best a hug as she could. Alphys made that sound of a laugh again and closed her eyes, reaching up and touching Basket's shoulder gently. Undyne smirked, then decided to hug both of them, together, reaching over and putting one hand on Dandelion's sleeping head, the other on Alphys's cheek.

Alphys nuzzled as close as possible, wincing a little but other than that able to handle it, and she cried a little again, which had everyone cuddle closer.

Whatever happened, if anything happened, this moment was better than anything else.

For all of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two group hugs in one chapter. I'm an old softie. I know. :P


	12. I Cannot Be Returned

_"MUMMY IS AWAKE!!! MUMMY IS A-FUCKING-WAKE!!! SHE'S AWAKE! AHAHAHAHAHA!!!"_

Nicky did something that she didn't usually do very often. She shrieked in her happiness.

She had grabbed the phone after hearing the chime and felt panic, afraid that something had happened in the night. Instead, she not only found that it was morning and the news was actually _good_.

Nicky read the message at least five times before she leapt to her feet and ran out of the room.

Asriel was running out at the same time, and he met her in the hallway. Father and daughter collided into a happy, laughing hug.

Frisk came out yawning a moment later, holding her own phone and rubbing her eyes. She reached out and patted each of their heads, then left to the kitchen to get breakfast.

Then she stopped, blinking at her phone, and turned back, running back to them and colliding into their hug, laughing.

From in their bedroom, both Asgore and Toriel read the message and smiled, but when they met each other's eyes, the smiled faded a little. Silently, Toriel reached over and took Asgore's hand into hers, her eyes glinting, and he nodded, his expression just as sombre.

"When?" Asgore asked softly.

"Tonight," she said in a whisper. "When we go to the hospital, I suspect, to visit Alphys. We'll beg off and leave early, and then, we'll meet him. Do you still have that list?"

Asgore nodded. When Frisk was younger and Carlson was still on the council, she had shared the list with him in case he wanted to contact any of the about whatever topic he could think of that might effect monsters.

He still had the list, and had never deleted Carlson's.

He would contact Carlson in the afternoon and arrange for a place to meet in order to negotiate a surrender - the two of them for Frisk. They knew damn well it wouldn't work, and that they would end up walking into an ambush, but that didn't matter to them.

They were ready for that.

Asgore and Toriel had both seen war. Many people seemed to forget that, especially when they looked at the two and saw the jovial grandparents as well as Headmistress and Groundskeeper.

Because it had been so long since anyone had seen their other side - and truly, no one was even left alive who ever had - they were going to use that ignorance to their advantage.

They were going to become warriors for their daughter and murder her greatest enemy.

Or they would go down the warriors that they had always been.

But for now, they would allow the joy they had just received to give this last moment of respite.

They came out of their room together and smiled at the trio giggling and laughing.

"Wonderful news, is it not?" Toriel said as a greeting, and they beamed at her.

"We have to go there _now!"_ Nicky said immediately.

She was about to jump into Asriel's room to get changed, but her father grabbed her and yanked her back.

"Nonono!" he said, and she stumbled and pouted. "Nicky, sweetie, think a little beyond your own excitement for a second...?"

Nicky sighed and ruffled her bangs. "Right. Gah. Sorry. I was just..." She blushed, and Asriel touched her cheek in reply, grinning at her. "Breakfast first?"

Frisk nodded. "That's a good start," she agreed. "Then we can call and find out if Alphys is even able to take visitors beyond family, alright?"

"Also a good idea," Asgore added.

"Shall I make us a wonderfully big breakfast to celebrate, then?" Toriel wondered, unable to help her own grin from becoming real.

Asgore smiled at her, he, too, feeling the same way.

"That would be awesome, Mom," Asriel agreed.

Nicky darted into the kitchen and immediately sat down with a grin, which made everyone laugh.

"Oh, that reminds me," Toriel said. "Frisk, dear, I think I left some cereal in the car from the other day. Can you get it for me?"

"Back seat?" Frisk wondered, putting on her housecoat and slippers. When Toriel nodded, she smiled and went to the car with the keys.

Asgore blinked for a moment, a sudden small bubble of nervousness filling him, but then he realised that Toriel had said "back seat" and not "trunk", and he relaxed.

He shouldn't have.

* * *

Frisk threw herself into the back seat and rummaged around, finding a few wrappers of take-out food that Toriel had obviously tried to hide and that Frisk would delight in teasing her about later - or perhaps it had been Asgore and maybe it was to be expected.

Either way, Frisk grumbled and rolled out of the backseat, deciding that Toriel probably meant the trunk.

She opened it with another grumble and found the cereal, as she expected. Under it, however, was a weird backpack, something she'd never seen before. Frisk was nothing if not curious, and she shoved the cereal aside for a moment to poke it, then pull it closer and open it. She reached in with her tongue out, wondering if it was something for her birthday next month - and froze, a jolt slicing through her entire body.

Her fingers closed over cold steel, and she pulled it out halfway before she shoved it back in, looking over her shoulder. The curtains in the kitchen were drawn, so she knew that no one would see her, but she still worried.

Hunched over, she pulled it back out and stared at it.

_I can't let this fall into anyone's hands. Except my own._

Frisk wasn't a fool, and knew that this meant that she was falling right into Nicky's vision.

But, she couldn't let Asgore keep it, and couldn't let anyone else find it, either. She pulled the gun free from the backpack, and as a second thought, grabbed the clip, though she didn't load it. Instead, she shoved the gun in one pocket of her housecoat, and the clip in the other. She made sure it didn't reveal too much, then zipped the backpack up and shoved it back where she found it.

Her heart was racing, painfully, and she had to hold her hand to her chest for a moment to keep from blacking out or losing her breath, but once she could, she opened her eyes and gritted her teeth.

Frisk knew what she had just done, what she'd just started.

Now it was up to her to make sure she didn't complete it.

Or, if she had to, make sure that it was only she that got hurt.

* * *

"Found it," Frisk held up the bag with a grin, taking off her slippers and housecoat and curling them up under one arm.

"That took you forever!" Toriel sighed, taking it.

"Because you practically buried it under the entire _car,_ Ma," Frisk smirked.

She walked back to her bedroom, tossed her housecoat and slippers into it, and came back, sitting down beside her husband and giving him a kiss on his nose.

"Oh, hush, or all you get is cereal," Toriel answered with a smirk.

Frisk smiled. She looked at her family and felt such warmth bloom in her chest. She loved them all so much.

She would never, ever let anything bad come to them.

No matter what.

Which mean ensuring that, regardless of what she needed to use or do to do so, Frisk knew that she would do _anything_ , if it meant her family was safe.

 _Always_.

* * *

Alphys, unfortunately, fell asleep about ten minutes into their hug. She was so tired, and felt every single grain of it, and despite how happy she was and how relieved she was, she struggled to - but couldn't - stay awake.

It took, however, the rest of her family to noticed right away, and it was only when Dandelion woke up and tried to crawl up to her chest - and she didn't wince or react - and Undyne realised that her wife was sleeping again. She scooped Dandelion up (who made both a face and a noise of protest but eventually calmed down) and held her to her chest, and Basket blinked a little and sat up.

"Oh," she murmured, blushing a little.

Undyne smiled and patted the top of her head gently. "It's okay, Peridot," she said softly, giving her hair an affectionate ruffle. "She needs it. It'll help her heal."

"I know," Basket sighed, looking at Alphys again. "I just... wish it would hurry up so that I can have my mum back."

"Basket," Undyne said, and she looked back over at her. "We're lucky we're this far." She said it seriously, her eye dark and no trace of a smile on her lips. "I know you were there. I know you saw her."

Basket bit her lip, looking down at her hands. She nodded.

"You're an adult, Bassy. You know she was... she was... _gone."_

Tears filled her eyes, and she nodded again.

Undyne took her hand gently, and she looked up. "We're _so_ lucky," she said softly, and Basket could hear it, buried deep in her still-raspy voice: tears that she kept hidden. "We are _so lucky._ No matter how long it takes, Basket, we need to be here, be patient. But we _will_ get our Alphy back. That's the most important part."

Basket nodded and leaned in close, hugging both her mom and her sister tight, sniffling. Undyne rubbed her back slowly with one hand, keeping Dandelion close with the other.

When they heard a soft, gentle snore, both Undyne and Basket laughed quietly. It was a good sign; if Alphys was able to snore, she was on the right track to healing.

* * *

It turned out that it was much too soon for Alphys to have visitors outside of family. Pretty much everyone was disappointed in this, especially Nicky.

"I really want to see Auntie Alphys," she said sadly, pushing the crusts of her toasts around her plate dejectedly. "I really miss her."

"We all do," Asriel agreed, giving her hair a gentle ruffle, and she sighed. "We _will_ see her, don't worry. For now, I think we need to figure out what we should do, next."

"Next?" Frisk blinked, looking up from her coffee.

Asriel nodded slowly. "Yeah. Carlson violated his parole, and he had someone shoot two of our friends with intent to kill. One of the eye-witnesses is well enough to testify." He grinned, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "I say we start getting that asshole back in jail."

From the corner of his eye, Asgore looked at Toriel, who was already looking back at him the same way. Slowly, they blinked at each other, then turned to their son and nodded.

Toriel smiled. "I'd say that is a good start, among other things," she agreed.

"But _how_ do we start?" Frisk wondered, eyeing Asriel closely. "Do you have a _way_ to start, besides calling the police and screaming at them?"

Asriel opened his mouth, then shut it, blushing scarlet and looking away.

Frisk smirked; she knew her husband well.

Nicky smiled a little. "I do think we need to contact the police, if the hospital hasn't already - which I'm actually sure they have. They sort of need to when it comes to guns."

"But with Alphys still too sick to talk to anyone..." Frisk sighed.

"Undyne, however, isn't," Toriel said sharply. "She got shot, and she had to watch - hold, hear, and listen to - her wife _die_. She has a _lot_ to say, I'm certain. Once they get to the hospital to talk to her, I'm positive the warrant will be issued within the hour for his arrest."

Asriel blinked. "That's... actually really assuring," he admitted.

"Of course it is," Asgore replied happily. "And then once they have him, he'll be there for _good_. He won't be able to leave for the rest of his life."

"Do you think that those jerks who follow him will leave us alone, too?" Nicky wondered, looking worried.

"Cut the head off and the snake dies," Toriel answered easily, which had everyone making a face from the mental image. "Once he's gone, they won't know what to do with themselves. I'm certain."

"Well, if they do try again," Asriel said, his voice sharp, "then they have to go through _me."_

"Asriel," Frisk warned, and he sighed.

"My phone and me," he amended with a grumble, and she relaxed.

"Well, my children," Toriel said gently. "Despite all that has happened, I am still unfortunately the Headmistress, and I do need to check on the school, however briefly." She turned to Asgore. "And Gorey dear, I'm going to need your help."

Asgore sighed deeply. "Gutters, again, Tori?"

She merely smiled at him, with a steel edge to it, and she said, "Of course, my love."

"Yes, dear," he sighed, standing up with a long-suffering smile.

Returning the smile, she took his hand. "I'll go shower first. You check the weather for me, please?"

When he nodded and they vanished into the bedroom, the three they left behind were bemused into silence.

"Why would they go to the school today?" Asriel wondered, looking confused.

Frisk, however, was oddly quiet. She bit her lip, and said, "I'm gonna text Undyne, see if the police have talked to her already, okay?"

When she got up and left to her old bedroom and shut the door, Nicky and Asriel looked at each other.

"Do you ever get the feeling that we're missing something?" he asked her.

Nicky nodded, but then shrugged a little. "I'm sure they'll tell us, right? If we were?"

Asriel nodded as well, reaching up and ruffling her hair again.

 _Indeed_.

"Papi?"" Nicky then said shyly, "can we go downstairs and watch some old movies together?"

He beamed at her. "It would be my pleasure, Nicky," he replied.

* * *

Asgore sat down on the bed, his phone in his hands. After a long moment of hesitation, he found the right words and texted.

_"Carlson, this is Asgore. You've been after my family recently. You've grown sloppy and left proof. I think it wise that we end this now, don't you?"_

There was a long pause, and for a moment, he wondered if he had the number wrong.

Then, he got a response.

_"King Asgore, contacting me for a truce? Should I feel honoured or terrified?"_

Asgore sighed. _"I'm surrendering in order to guarantee my daughter's safety. You've already tried drawing her out using others, and it failed. She will not surrender. I and my wife are surrendering. Will you take what's given to you, and leave my daughter and her remaining family alone in return?"_

Another incredibly long pause, one long enough for Toriel to come out of the shower and sit down next to him in her towels.

Then, finally:

_"Done. Meet me at this address and we'll finalise your surrender and finish this. And I do mean finish this. Don't kid yourselves, please. This is not a meet-and-greet. My peace is contingent upon the loss of your lives."_

Toriel and Asgore looked at each other, their eyes meeting. Wordlessly, they nodded, taking hands and holding tight.

_"We wouldn't expect it any less, Carlson. Time and place, please. And let's do it, quickly. This needs to end._

In reply, they got GPS coordinates and a time. Asgore screenshot it, then sent it to Toriel's phone, just in case.

Then, he lowered his phone and looked at his wife, who was already looking back at him.

"We said we wouldn't do this," he said softly. "That we wouldn't step in and try to fix our children's lives..."

"Gorey," Toriel murmured, cupping his face into her hands. "We're doing this to save those lives. We have no other choice."

Her eyes blazed. "And we will not lose. This is not a suicide mission. Do you hear me, Dreemurr?"

He stared into her eyes. "How can it not be?" he whispered. "He has determination. Adult DT. He survived against _Undyne."_

"You _taught_ Undyne. And, Asgore." Toriel suddenly smiled, baring her fangs at him. "I was not there, either."

"Tori," he whispered, reaching for her.

She pulled away for a moment, stood up, and locked the door, then let the towels drop to the floor beneath her, before she sat back down next to him. He kissed her again, and she pulled his robe and pyjama bottoms off in return.

They were both scared, no matter how brave they were.

Bravery wasn't lacking fear.

Bravery was experiencing that fear, accepting it as part of them, and still going forward despite it all.

As quiet as possible, they made love, desperate love, the kind that is both tearful and yet so powerful, powerful enough to remind them why they were doing this at all, despite whatever outcome they would face.

When they broke apart, they lay together, both in tears, but able to hear Asriel and Nicky laughing from the basement. They always laughed so loud, and so happily, that it was yet another wonderful reminder of why they had to do this.

"Together, Gorey," Toriel whispered, stroking his hair slowly.

"Forever, Tori," he agreed, holding her tight.

* * *

Within the bedroom she grew up in, Frisk hurriedly unwrapped her housecoat and pulled out the gun and clip with shaking hands. She held them in her hands, staring at them as if they were on fire, but she knew the fire wasn't in her hands - but her heart.

The gun terrified her. Even holding it made her sick.

But she knew what she had to do. She just needed a plan, a way to do it so that no one else would know or suspect what she was doing. She listened, and heard that Toriel was done in the shower, but Asgore had yet to start.

She wrapped both back in her housecoat and shoved them under the bed. Shakily, she sat on the bed, covering her mouth with her hands and closing her eyes.

There was still time.

She could go back to the car and return the gun, so that Asgore could return it and nothing else would happen. She even stood up at one point to do so, but froze.

She gritted her teeth and shook her head, sitting back down again. She rocked slowly, her hands covering her face, absorbed with such indecision that it threatened to send her into a blackout, but she steadied her breathing and calmed down slowly.

 _Nicky saw me with that gun,_ she thought suddenly, her eyes wide and staring at the wall, at one of her old posters - a picture of a map of Discworld - without seeing it. _Everything else she saw has come true. This is just my part. I just have to_ have _the gun. I don't need to_ use _it. Maybe I just hold it until someone comes to help me...?_

They were good thoughts, reasonable thoughts.

But they weren't real.

She knew they were lies, absolutely. But at that moment, she didn't care. She knew she had to do it. She just didn't know how or when.

She heard laughter - her husband and her daughter - and raised her head. They both had a similar laugh, one of the many things they shared, and she listened with a small smile on her lips, tears coming to her eyes.

Slowly, she got to her feet and left her room, before she remembered to actually text Undyne and ask her the question she said she was going to.

Then she went to the basement and joined them - and found them watching _Heat_. Again.

She sat down next to them and cuddled them both close, and watched with them, allowing their laughter and the silliness of the movie to wash over her.

* * *

After another twenty minutes, Asgore and Toriel walked to the door and got ready to go.

"We're on our way!" Toriel called cheerfully. "We'll be back whenever we can, alright! Text if you need us!"

 _"WE LOVE YOU!!"_ Asriel shouted back in reply.

Asgore and Toriel smiled at each other for a moment at that, both taking those words to heart. Taking hands, they left the house, walked to the car, and got in.

They punched in the coordinates and were on their way.


	13. Still I Follow Heartlines On Your Hand

Shortly after they left, Frisk got an interesting text message, one that she was glad she had gotten up and away from the couch to read, given her expression.

It was short, to the point, and it left her cold inside.

_"Dreemurr, your parents have surrendered their lives for yours. I am sending you a taxi. I'm certain we both would rather it just be you, correct?"_

With shaking hands, her vision dark around the edges, she wrote back, _"Yes. Don't hurt them. I'll surrender. Please, I'm begging you."_

_"No need to beg. It's done. See you soon, Dreemurr."_

"I have to go," Frisk said suddenly, her voice sounding too loud for her ears.

Both Nicky and Asriel blinked and looked up at her in confusion, and she struggled to keep her face calm - which seemed to work, as they didn't look suspicious or worried.

She smiled. "That was Mami. She needs my help at the school. It shouldn't be more than an hour. Think you'll be good til then?"

"Oh, Mami," Nicky snorted, waving a hand at her. "You know Papi and I know how to use a fire extinguisher."

She smiled for real this time, and pocketed her phone. She went back over to them both and leaned down, giving Nicky a kiss and a hug, then Asriel, who laughed and returned it happily.

"If it'll help, tell the damned kids I'll bury them if they keep it up," Asriel replied with a grin.

"Of course," she agreed. "I love you both. Be good. See you later, okay?"

When they both nodded, she turned and walked up the stairs.

When they had turned back to the TV and resumed watching, she paused and looked at them for a moment, her hand on her chest, her smile vanishing.

Everything within her hurt, knowing that she would never see them again, and that the last thing she had ever said to them would be a lie, but...

_The alternate is not a price I'm willing to pay..._

Silently, she walked up the stairs and down the hall, and reached under the bed. She grabbed her housecoat and pulled out the gun and its clip. She gritted her teeth, then loaded it awkwardly, getting it upside-down the first time but eventually succeeding in loading it without breaking it.

Once dressed, she left her room quickly, then threw her coat on, made sure the gun was on safety, then tucked it into the inside breast pocket.

When she looked outside, the taxi was already there and waiting, and without so much as another word or look, she left the house and got into it.

* * *

Asgore and Toriel arrived at the address, which ended up being a house on the same street as the house that Carlson had sent Undyne. They didn't know it at the time, however.

Together, they left their car, and Asgore paused. Toriel was halfway to the door before she realised and turned back.

"Gorey?" she said, confused.

Asgore was hesitating in front of the trunk of the car. "The... the gun," he said softly. "If our magic fails, Tori, we need a weapon that can kill a human without a doubt."

Toriel looked conflicted, her hands folded in front of her, before she nodded slowly.

Asgore sighed, opened the trunk, and reached back and pulled the bag out. Then he froze, his eyes going wide.

It was a lot lighter than he remembered.

"Toriel," he said sharply, and she came over to his side. He set the bag down and opened it, and it was as he had feared: empty.

"No," he whispered. "She wouldn't... would she?"

Toriel's expression was grim. "If she found it, and thought she was saving you, yes, she would," she said.

He sighed, then tossed the bag back into the truck and closed it, hard. He was angry, but it was the kind that came with the frustration of finding yourself helpless.

Then he looked up at Toriel. "But she wouldn't use it, would she?"

"No," Toriel agreed. "I doubt she would. She probably found it looking for the cereal and hid it from you, just in case. If we..." Her expression hardened. _"When_ we return from this, we'll get it back from her, and then return it to wherever you got it from."

He nodded, but he still felt that fear, nonetheless. "Our magic will have to be enough, then," he said carefully.

"Then it will be," she said calmly, taking one of his hands into her own and squeezing it tight.

Together, they walked to the door, and Asgore knocked. They waited a moment, and like before, no one bothered to answer it.

"Rude," Toriel growled, and she grabbed the knob and threw the door open. They were greeted by dim light, and they walked into it, finding themselves in a living room bereft of furniture, save a chair and a lamp.

In that chair was Carlson, and he looked up with a smirk, standing up slowly.

"Greetings, Dreemurrs," he said calmly.

He truly did look better than he did than at the hearing, though they could clearly see that there were some residual injuries that Undyne had left behind. The sight gave them both some confidence, and they stood up taller, not bothering to answer the greeting.

"So," Carlson continued, clearly not expecting an answer. "Your lives for exchange for your daughter's?"

"Yes," Asgore agreed, his voice just as calm. "With us, this entire thing ends. Truly, we're aware that your animosity lies with mostly us."

"Well, _you,"_ Carlson corrected lightly. "The murderer of six children, whose only crimes were to be clumsy and fall down a mountain and survive. Your wife hasn't really done anything, save force integration of human and monster children and make them become friends... hm." He smirked. "Perhaps there's a reason for her to die, after all."

"I'm sure this is very amusing for you," Toriel sighed. "Indeed, you can be sure we're absolutely enthralled by your speech. But honestly, we'd prefer it if you would just get this over with. Kill us, end the chaos, and leave our children alone."

Asgore lowered his gaze, trying to look small and meek, when his mind was already calling on his power, bringing forth what he needed. It took longer than he liked, going for so long unused, but soon, like a loyal old dog, his magic answered, and he felt it course through his blood.

Toriel flexed her fingers, making it look like she was irritated, but he knew she was doing the same thing as he.

Carlson shrugged. "Alright, if you want it done the easy way, I don't blame you. You're very old. We can do that."

Calmly, he reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a gun.

"Who wants to go first?" he wondered.

"I will," Toriel answered through her teeth.

Before Carlson even aimed for her, she held her hand out at her side, letting loose her magic. Blazing forth from a flash of purple came a sword, and she grabbed it into her hand before the glow even faded. With a lunge, she threw herself forward, swinging the sword toward Carlson without so much as a sound.

His face paled and he raised the gun, firing a hasty shot that missed Toriel and ended up hitting the wall behind her. He tripped backwards over the chair, and she ended up only slicing through his tie. He and the chair crashed backwards on the floor, and she stood there, her teeth bared and her stance ready, the sword still held out.

Asgore held his hands out and summoned his trident, flipping it around a few times and remembering the feel of it before he moved to join his wife. He held it up, his eyes blazing, and Toriel's were very similar.

"So," Carlson said a little breathlessly, "you're not surrendering after all?"

In reply, Toriel held up her other hand, a ball of fire bursting to life.

Carlson smirked. "Didn't think so," he replied. He shifted back and away from the chair and stood up again, holding the gun out.

With exchanged smile, Toriel and Asgore started forward.

Carlson fired, but Toriel threw the fire forward, and it formed into a shield in front of her, stopping that bullet mid-air, before it dropped, bright orange, to the floor.

Asgore leapt over the chair and swung the trident, its tines flashing blue.

Carlson of course tried to move away, and as a result, it sliced through the front of his clothes and across his chest. A burst of blood accompanied the hit, but he merely jumped back and hunched over, his hand to his chest, the gun held to the side for a moment.

Toriel took the chance and swung her sword, the blade arcing through the air and toward his neck. He jumped back, and the blade landed into his shoulder. He yelped, loud, the sword for a moment stuck there until he pulled himself free. He dropped to his knees, covered in blood, now, and both Asgore and Toriel paused, not a scratch on them.

Both were smiling, now.

They knew he would get back up again. In fact, they both hoped he would.

There was something familiar about this, about fighting a human again, with the precise goal of taking their soul for their own. Only this time, they knew they would win.

Carlson may have DT. But they were wise. And they were both warriors. A deadly combination.

When he got back up, held the gun out again and took a shot, it was Asgore who threw his hand out and encased the bullet in fire, and it was Toriel who leapt beneath his arm and swung her sword again. This time, she landed another blow to his already-healing chest, reopening one of the wounds that Asgore had caused.

She then moved to the side, and Asgore took her place, swinging his trident upwards this time, catching Carlson's side and arm as he tried to move away and take fire again. He didn't make it in time, and the tines sliced through cloth and skin once more. He dropped again, and this time he stayed on the ground far longer than before.

His gun dropped from his hand, and Toriel bounded forward and kicked it out of reach as hard as she could. The weapon hit the closest wall remained out of Carlson's reach, though he did try.

He found his arm caught between the tines of Asgore's trident, and he froze, the blades very sharp and glowing orange. He winced in pain, trying to extract his arm, but Toriel held her sword to his neck, and he froze again.

To their shared delight, they saw that the arrogance was long gone and now replaced with true, unmatched fear.

They were just too fast for him. Undyne had been fast, and had she not been distracted, she would have killed him. But together, Toriel and Asgore barely gave him time to catch his breath, let alone use his stolen DT to try and heal himself.

"Do you want it, Tori?" Asgore said softly. "Or shall I take it?"

Toriel thought about it. "Take it, darling Gorey," she replied. "Yours is a temper far cooler than mine."

Asgore smiled, the kind of smile that hadn't been seen in centuries. He held out his free hand and moved it towards Carlson, aiming for his chest.

Behind them, the sound of a gunshot rang out, freezing all three of them.

Without moving their weapons, Toriel and Asgore looked over their shoulders, their hearts racing. Beneath them, Carlson's face twisted into a grin.

Frisk stood, holding Darian's gun in her hand and held out to the side, so the shot had landed in the wall beside her. She looked _enraged_ , shaking from head to foot.

Were she a monster, her entire being would have been consumed in her power.

"You _promised,"_ she snarled.

"Frisk--," Toriel began.

"Frisk, listen--," Asgore also tried.

She fired another shot, silencing them _. "You_ _promised!"_ she repeated, her voice so enraged it shook - and hurt her parents dearly. "You _lied_ to me. _You lied to me!"_

"Did you truly think we would let you sit around and wait to be killed?!" Toriel shouted suddenly, her sword moving closer to Carlson's throat in her ire. "For us to have to watch as our family gets murdered, one-by-one, by this disgusting excuse for a waste of a soul?!"

"I thought you would trust me!" Frisk answered back. "You always _said_ you trusted me! _I_ trusted _you!_ What _choice_ do we have _now?!"_

Asgore stared at her. "Frisk, drop the gun," he pleaded softly. "Drop it. We have this handled. Drop that gun."

"Leave," she answered, her voice sharp like knives. "If you take his soul, he becomes a martyr for his cause. Don't you get that?! You need to leave, _now!"_

"Frisk--," Toriel begged.

Frisk fired a third shot, and her parents winced.

It had been closer, and they knew what it meant: the next one would be shot near - or into - Carlson.

 _"LEAVE!"_ she screamed.

She aimed the gun with both hands and started toward them, training it on Carlson.

Slowly, Asgore moved first, leaning back and pulling the trident away. Toriel glared at him in disbelief, but his head was lowered, and without a word, the weapon vanished. Toriel's eyes wavered, and she bared her teeth and pulled her sword away, before it, too, vanished.

"Go," Frisk growled. "Please. Just _go_. Whatever happens here... it doesn't matter. Just go, Mami, Papi..."

She looked at Toriel first, then Asgore, her eyes shining. It clearly wasn't easy for her to yell at them this way, but it also went to prove how much it meant to her for them to leave - and be safe, either way.

"Please leave," she repeated. "Asriel and Nickname... they'll need you."

"But, Frisk--," Toriel tried to take a step forward, but Frisk took a step forward herself, and she stopped.

"Please," she whispered.

They could never, in all of the years that she had been their daughter, ever deny her anything.

Asgore was already weeping, and he took Toriel's hand into his. She stared at him as if he were betraying her, but then she looked down, her face crumpling.

Together, they ran past Frisk, who shut her eyes when they did, and vanished out of the front door.

When it closed, Frisk opened her eyes again, and they landed on Carlson.

"Now," she said, keeping the gun on him. "Now, you _die."_

* * *

"where is she?"

The voice startled both Asriel and Nicky and they turned around, finding sans standing at the foot of the steps of the basement, his eyes wide and dim.

"How the hell did you get in here?!" Asriel snarled, getting to his feet and turning to him.

Nicky jumped to her feet, her eyes wide, but not in anger. Rather, they were wide with fear.

"where's frisk?!" sans answered. "where is she?!"

"She went to the school the help Mom," Asriel snapped. "What is your _problem_ , bastard?!"

Nicky, however, was staring sans. "She's not at the school, is she?" she whispered. "Neither are Ehmma and Ehmpa."

Asriel jolted and turned to her. "What are you talking about?" he demanded.

sans shut his eyes tight, his teeth clenched. When they opened, the pinpoints were gone, and the beginnings of an ember were starting to ignite within his left eye.

"Both of you," he said slowly, holding out his hands. "Grab on, and tell no one what you are going to see."

Nicky did without question, but Asriel hesitated a little. "What's going on?"

"Do it, Asriel!" Sans answered, startling him. Sans never used his real name.

Without another word, he grabbed sans's other hand.

And then, they weren't there.

They weren't then.

They were everywhere and everyplace.

It was almost too bright to see, as if their eyes weren't made for such light, and they both squinted against it, only seeing a few images. The few they did see, they didn't really understand.

Some showed their friends, their family, the same, but also _different_.

They were on the surface, or they were still stuck Underground. They were rulers, or they were dead.

It was all at once and it was then as if none of it had existed, and soon both Asriel and Nicky started feeling sick and confused.

Finally, it stopped, and they found themselves somewhere and somewhen normal.

It took them several moments to focus, but Sans was instantly alert. He ran forward toward the house, seeing Toriel's car there, and in seconds he saw both Toriel and Asgore, standing outside of the house as though hypnotised.

"Where is she?" he demanded of them.

They stared at him, their eyes sharing the same pained, hollow expression, and suddenly he knew that she was in there, with Carlson, and about to kill not just him, but herself.

He started for the door, but suddenly a voice stopped him.

"Uncle Sans!"

He turned, shaking, and Nicky ran to his side. "Don't. Call the police, right away!"

"We already did," Asgore admitted softly.

"Why are you not in there _with_ her?!" Sans shouted, startling everyone around him. "Don't you understand what you've _done?!"_

"She told us to leave," Toriel whispered. "We lied to her. We owed her that much."

"What the hell is _wrong_ with you?!" Sans shouted.

They said nothing.

How could they explain?

That the moment their daughter looked at them with such pain and shame in her eyes, with embarrassment and sorrow, that their thirst for vengeance died a quick and painful death within them, and they suddenly realised that she was right, and had been right all along?

That to do what they wanted to do, what they had _thought_ to be right, was not only destroying everything she had worked for, but also everything that _they_ had worked for, too?

Silently, Nicky slipped past them and into the house. Sans reached to stop her, but she shoved him back, as hard as she could, and he stumbled off of his feet and onto the ground, stunned.

Nicky didn't look back.

She knew what she had to do.

* * *

Frisk's hands on the gun were cold, the metal colder than the iciest day.

Her finger was on the trigger, but she had yet to press down and free the bullet she knew would kill him. Her hand shook, and thus so did the gun.

Carlson stared at her, his eyes on hers and his smirk like a knife within her breast. He was weakened and miserable, but he still knew that, if she shot him, even if he died, he would still win.

Her eyes burned with furious tears, her thoughts clouding with the images of her friends; almost all of them had been directly affected by the actions of this man, either directly or indirectly, no matter how young they were, and he had yet to show any remorse or apology for those actions.

So many people could have died - had almost died, to the point of being seconds away from that final end - and yet here he stood inwardly laughing at her, still arrogant, still unrepentant.

How could anyone be so _cruel_ , so _evil?_

How could _anyone_ have such evil in their hearts?

How could such hatred not _devour_ a person?

How could it give him so much drive, so much _power?_

She swallowed hard and moved her finger off the safety, and she heard another bullet click into place. She gritted her teeth, the tears running down her face, her heart racing with rage.

"Go ahead," he said finally, grinning at her. "Shoot me, Ambassador. Become the monster you've always been."

"You're wrong," she snarled. "I'd be the human I _never_ wanted to be. I'd be just like _you_ , wouldn't I?"

Suddenly, she felt herself smile in return, the gesture so twisted and ugly that it hurt. "Does that not stink of irony? I'd become you, _exactly_ like you, when, for all of these years, you've always tried to prove otherwise."

Her finger began to push down on the trigger, and she trembled, struggling to keep her eyes opened and on his. He glared at her now, finding no reply to her words.

"Mami."

Frisk jolted, her finger loosening on the trigger immediately as she turned around to face her daughter.

Nicky stood there, her eyes wide and full of fear - and sadness, her arms limp at her sides.

Carlson also looked over her shoulder, his eyes narrowing and his smile fading upon seeing the child he had attempted to murder myriad times - only to fail.

"Nicky," Frisk whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to stop you," Nicky answered, walking toward her _. "Tolong_ , Mami."

Carlson glared, but was too weak to do anything but move slightly back, tripping over the pain of his wounds.

"You can't do this, Mami," Nicky reminded Frisk. "You're not a killer. _Anda bukan seorang pembunuh!"_

"No." Frisk gritted her teeth and held the gun back towards Carlson, putting her finger back on the trigger, though her hand still shook. "I _have_ to do this, Nickname. It _has_ to be me. It's _always_ been up to me. _Tolong_ , Nickname! _Mundur!"_

Carlson stared up at the barrel of the gun, his face pale, and she pressed it toward his forehead.

"He _has_ to die, Nickname! _You saw it!"_ Her voice broke, though _. "Anda tahu apa yang Anda lihat!"_

Nicky moved to her mother's side carefully, placing a hand on her trembling arm.

"No, Mami," she said softly. "He doesn't have to die. Not by your hand. He'll be dead soon enough. _Look_ at him, Mami. _Hanya melihat!"_

Frisk was. She could look at no one else, not even her daughter. She bared her teeth, unable to reply. All she could see was the demon that haunted her family, that had tried to destroy them so many times, and only because all they wanted was _peace_.

"He's an old man, Mami. An old, pathetic, prejudiced man, with nothing left but those prejudices and a slew of fools who follow him," Nicky continued, her voice so soft - yet it was so painful. "Once he dies - alone, unloved, and with only his hatred within him - those fools will find their own hatred dying with him. He's not worth _your_ destruction, Mami."

"Nickname," Frisk cried, her eyes blurring with tears. " _Mundur_. I _have_ to kill him."

"You know that if you do, you'll die, too," Nicky answered sadly, her own tears running down her cheeks.

Frisk sobbed, once, her eyes shutting briefly at that. She knew it was true.

Frisk had spent her entire life living for peace, sparing the lives of everyone no matter how bad they were. If she went against those principles over this one person, she would lose her entire meaning of life.

She might not die literally, but she would die mentally - and emotionally.

"Mami, give me the gun, okay?" Nicky said softly, her hand sliding closer to Frisk's shaking one.

Frisk shut her eyes, lowering her head, before she lowered her hand slowly and let her grip on the gun loosen.

Nicky grabbed it carefully, then threw it to the side as hard as she could, before she grabbed her mother into her arms. Frisk clung to her, breaking into sobs.

 _"Terima kasih. Tidak apa-apa, tidak apa-apa..."_ Nicky whispered, her voice choked. 

The moment that happened, the door behind them opened, and slowly, Sans came in and ran to their side. He held out his left hand, his eye blazing to life, and Carlson froze. Carlson's eyes flared in shock, but he couldn't move away - not with Sans holding his soul still.

Frisk and Nicky were oblivious, both crying, now.

Behind them, there was a familiar shout, and they both found themselves embraced as one by Asriel, who held them tight, and they grabbed onto him, too, pulling him close.

"I'm so sorry! Please, _forgive me!"_ Frisk sobbed out, to both her husband and her daughter. _"I'm so sorry! Saya minta maaf!!"_

In reply, they held her close.

They had already forgiven her.

Soon, the sounds of sirens filled the air, and outside, Toriel and Asgore moved to wave them down.

As soon as officers filed their way in to take Carlson away, Sans let him go. But he hesitated, almost giving into the need - the yearning - to destroy his soul.

But only the sounds of Frisk's sobs stopped him, and he lowered his hand.

Long after Carlson had been taken away, Frisk was still wailing. Soon, her parents came to hold her as well, but they knew that it would take more than that to ease her pain - though of course they tried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I have two epilogues written: one in which Carlson lives, and one in which Carlson dies. In light of allowing you wonderful amazing people decide, I would like those of you to vote on which ending you'd prefer. Remember, though: they're endings from ME, which will likely not be the kind you expected either way. :3 So comment away with that in mind!


	14. Just Keep Following The Heartlines On Your Hand

It was a long drive home.

By the time they'd been checked for injuries and given their statements to the police, it was night. They were tired and hungry, not to mention emotionally drained.

Once they made it into the car and were on the road home, Frisk had curled up against Asriel, and Nicky curled up against her. Asgore's hand was reaching back from the passenger seat and had hold of one of Frisk's, while Toriel drove, her eyes dark.

No one spoke. They were tired of talking, of having to describe what they had gone through over and over again, and for once no one seemed bothered by that silence.

Frisk was weeping again, but softly, her eyes open and staring out the window, watching the scenery go by in a detached way. Her hands, though they were now being held by people she loved and who loved her, still felt burnt from holding that gun.

She knew it was scarring she'd have to live with for the rest of her life, but she hoped it would someday soon stop hurting so much.

sans had left shortly after giving his statement. He had hugged them all - even Asgore and Asriel - and then said he "needed to leave". No one questioned him, and though Toriel offered to give him a ride home, he declined.

Every once and a while, Asriel would reach down and gently brush Frisk's tears away, and Nicky kept her arms around her mother, her face buried in her shoulder.

When they finally got home, it took a moment for them to even realise it.

Asgore gently tugged on Frisk's hand, and she raised her head and looked over at him in confusion before she finally understood.

By the time they had made it into the house, Toriel was already on the phone ordering in food. She was too tired to cook and too hungry to try.

Frisk moved to go to her bedroom, but Asriel grabbed her arm and steered her back.

"You need to eat," he said softly, touching her cheek, and she stared at him for a moment before nodding.

He led her into the kitchen and they sat down, Frisk immediately resting her head in her hands and shutting her eyes. Asriel sat beside her and kept a hand on her shoulder, but didn't say anything.

Nicky was sitting on the couch with Asgore, and they were talking quietly.

"Why did you and Ehmma do it?" Nicky asked softly.

Asgore sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, before he responded. "Honestly, Nicky?"

She nodded.

"We wanted him to die."

Nicky bit her lip, then nodded again, before she hugged his arm tight. He pulled it away to hug her better, and she returned it.

Toriel sat down at the table on Frisk's other side and said, her voice sounding sharp in the quiet of the night, "You will eat, Frisk."

It wasn't a question.

Frisk nodded. She didn't want to, but she knew she had to. She just hoped it was something easy to eat, so that she didn't have to think about it.

"Frisk," Toriel said again. "Look at me."

Slowly, Frisk raised her eyes, her lips pressing closed. They were afraid. Carefully, as if worried she'd spook her daughter, Toriel reached out and touched Frisk's cheek gently.

"Tonight, my girl, we will eat, we will sleep, and then we'll face the rest of this tomorrow. But tonight? Tonight we just do what we _always_ do. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Mami," Frisk whispered. It was the first thing she had said in a while, but she meant it.

"There is nothing more we can do tonight. We've done all we can. Tomorrow we can proceed, work on our defence, and our explanations for what we've done. But that's tomorrow. Tonight, we're just a family having take-out." Toriel smiled faintly. "Okay, my dear?"

Frisk nodded slowly, her eyes wavering. "Okay," she murmured.

"And, you?" Toriel looked at Asriel, who blinked and looked back in surprise, his hand now stroking Frisk's hair. "You, my boy, just keep doing what you do."

Her smile widened a little more, and Asriel smiled in return, nodding.

"I just want to say one thing," Toriel added, looking back to Frisk. "I'm sorry. I truly am."

Frisk's eyes filled, and she bit down on her lip hard.

"I hope you'll forgive us someday."

Frisk sobbed once and threw herself at Toriel, grabbing her into a hug and breaking down into her shoulder, clinging to her like she was a child again. Toriel held her close and closed her eyes, in tears, herself, now.

They spent the night just as Toriel described: together and with good food. They even watched TV - though they avoided the news channels as though they were hungry mosquitoes - and managed to laugh a little; it was real laughter, too.

It was truly a comfort, and it started healing the cracks that Frisk felt had opened within her heart.

Once she and Asriel were settled in bed, Frisk checked her phone, realising that through all of this, she had forgotten she had texted Undyne about being questioned. To her surprise, she had received a response - and then several additions.

_"Yeah, they came by and whined at me and asked why I used magic, the idiots. When I told them nicely like I always do that my wife was shot and my children were in danger, they shut the fuck up and I won. So it went well. :)"_

_"I haven't heard from you in a while, punk. What the hell? I know you can't visit yet, but come on, don't ditch me. It's rude. You're rude. Do Toriel and Asgore know you're so fucking rude?"_

_"Sorry. Alphy's sleeping, the brats are out taking a break from this dump, so I'm cranky and bored. But please humour me soon, will ya?"_

_"Uh, I haven't heard from you at all, and I know you're not an asshole, so is something going on that no one told me about? Can you tell me, please?"_

_"Is everything okay? You're freaking me out, punk."_

_"Fucking answer your phone, you asshole!"_

_"SANS JUST TOLD ME WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED AND YOU BETTER BE GLAD I'M TRAPPED IN THIS STUPID SHITHOLE BECAUSE ONCE I'M DONE I'M GONNA THROW YOU INTO HERE MYSELF, YOU STUPID IDIOTIC DUMBASS BRAT PUNK!!!!"_

_"Alphy says she's glad you're okay. I still say fuck you."_

And that was it.

The last one was sent shortly before eleven, so Frisk imagined that they had gone to sleep - or Basket had taken the phone away from Undyne (it was the latter). Frisk put the phone to the side and rubbed her eyes, not sure whether she wanted to laugh or cry.

"Well," Asriel sighed, having read the messages along with her, "Undyne will be fine."

Frisk finally smiled, leaning back and curling up against him, feeling so tired and heavy. Asriel took hold of her and lay back, turning the lights off and holding her close, pulling the blankets over them.

Then, in a small voice, Asriel whispered, "Don't do that to me ever again."

Frisk curled closer to him, holding onto him tight. "I won't. I promise," she agreed.

Asriel swallowed hard, his eyes shut, before he pulled on her. She moved closer, and he leaned down and kissed her, gently at first, something she returned with more healing to her heart. Asriel then pulled on her again, harder, and she shifted, rolling on top of him and deepening the kiss. By then, he was crying, but quietly, as was she, but they didn't stop.

They needed each other, desperately now, and nothing would stop them. They made love, quietly but deeply, and it wasn't just Frisk's heart that started to heal.

The pain of decades of fear was finally starting to heal, and this was just the first step.

* * *

It was hard to believe that all of it had happened in less than a week, but it was true.

With Dr Tollona's help, Alphys found out how the missing samples had landed in Carlson's hands: one of the staff members, the temporary volunteers, had taken them in the middle of the night, right before Carlson's release.

It oddly cut Alphys deep, as if the betrayal was personal. It certainly _felt_ that way.

A few days after Carlson was back in custody, Alphys could finally take the breathing mask off and use only an oxygen tube. Now that she wasn't on DT, her healing had slowed down, but she didn't mind. She was just glad she was able to finally _talk_.

Plus, if she were to be honest, the DT made her nervous; it made her feel strangely strong, despite being weak, still. It was confusing - but the alternative was far worse.

Undyne was overjoyed once Alphys could talk again, and even as her shoulder healed enough for her to be formally discharged, she still stayed in the room with her as much as possible.

One of the first things Alphys said to Undyne, however, was not what she wanted to hear at all.

"Undyne," she said softly, and Undyne moved closer and smiled, her eye shining. She always looked so happy whenever Alphys spoke. "I... I'm sorry."

The smile faded immediately, and Undyne frowned. "Why? What are you talking about? Why?"

"I wasn't s-strong enough to fight off that k-kidnapper," Alphys admitted, gritting her teeth and feeling a flash of both shame and anger, and she blushed from it. "J-just _one_ kidnapper managed to get me, and put Dandelion in danger. If I-if I had been stronger, this would never have happened."

Undyne reached out and covered her mouth angrily, her eye flashing. "Shut up," she snarled. "Damn, suddenly I wish you couldn't talk, after all, if _that's_ what you're gonna say."

Alphys looked away, glaring, but Undyne didn't move her hand away. She went on.

"You _tried_ , Alphy. I know you did. I saw that, the moment I saw that kitchen in the state you left it."

Alphys tried to say something, but Undyne glared more, and she sighed and shut up.

"And Alphy, they would've done something eventually, and you know it. Even if you had fought him off, you know it wouldn't of been proof enough for Carlson to get caught. You know it, just like I do."

Alphys nodded slowly.

"It would've been nicer if it hadn't happened," Undyne admitted, moving her hand away slowly to touch Alphys's hot cheek. "It would've been _a lot_ nicer if it hadn't. But at least it's over, and we never, ever have to face that _fucker_ ever again."

She paused, looking down. "Though... I don't think the price of your life is worth all of that, just to have that happen."

Alphys looked back at her, her eyes softening. "It's okay," she said gently. "Even if I _had_..."

Undyne raised her head and covered her mouth again, harder, her eyes blazing and her teeth bared. Alphys stared back, and Undyne said nothing, just stared at her with that anger.

There were no words for how Undyne felt, but she didn't need them; Alphys could see the pain and the rage, there - and the hurt, that deep, still-healing hurt. Alphys reached up and touched her hand, and Undyne lowered her head, shutting her eye.

Silently, she leaned down and pressed her head against Alphys's shoulder, her hand lowering from Alphys's mouth and to her cheek again, though her grip was still strong. Alphys put her arm around her carefully and pulled her as close as she could. Undyne started shaking, then, and Alphys closed her eyes.

"N-no," Alphys whispered, her hand reaching up and stroking her wife's hair slowly. "You're right. It's _not_ okay. If I had, it _wouldn't_ be okay. I'm sorry."

Undyne hugged onto her tighter and uttered a small sob, and Alphys held her close.

* * *

If there was anything the Dreemurrs all shared, it was a sense of forgiveness.

Of all of them, the one with the most difficulty forgiving was Toriel, but over the years, even she had learnt it was far better for her own health as well as others to forgive if she couldn't forget.

But this time around, there was no hesitation on any side.

By the time the sun was up the day after that horrible afternoon, they had all forgiven each other. They, above anyone else, knew how short life could be, and didn't want to waste it spending it on grudges that, in the end, were worthless.

Both Toriel and Asgore were charged with aggravated assault and attempted murder, but the charges were dropped when the context of that assault came to light. Instead, they were told to pay a fine - one not easily paid, so they had to go on a small payment plan - but it was better than jail, so they took it.

Darian had indeed reported his gun stolen, but once it was 'found', he also dropped that charge, and Asgore and Frisk weren't in trouble for it - Darian made sure of that, despite Frisk using it. He took it back into his possession, hiding it once more into its backpack and kept well out of the way of his son - who didn't even know he had a gun, and never would.

Carlson, though he wasn't charged for the kidnapping and attempted murder of Alphys, was charged as an accessory to that crime, in addition to the fact that he indeed violated his parole on that, alone. Once it came to light that he exchanged text messages with the Dreemurrs - including luring Frisk out with blackmail - he was doubly charged with that violation.

Though he likely wouldn't be formally charged for a few years and would likely fight it, there was no question that any jury - indeed, anyone from the Crown, as well - would never let him walk free. He would be jailed for the rest of his life. It was even worse when it came out that he had bribed one of the volunteers at the hospital to give him DT samples, as use of DT was still strictly regulated.

No, true to Basket's initial angry wish, it was unlikely that Carlson would ever feel sunlight ever again.

It was, needless to say, a relief.

* * *

Another week passed, and with it came the green light for Alphys to go home. She was still weak (and now missing a piece of rib to boot), but she was oddly cheerful.

The morning she was told, she stared at Dr Tollona, then started laughing, so hard she had to put a hand to her chest and lie back, but that didn't stop her.

Her vitals were normal for someone with her injury, and she was on the way to a complete recovery. It was better than anyone - especially her - could have ever dreamt for her, and it made her so happy that she soon started to cry, covering her face and hunching over, crying the kind of sobs that take over, are utterly messy, and completely unstoppable.

It wasn't just the fact that she survived - and was thriving - but what surviving actually _meant_ \- and _would_ mean - to monster medicine.

Undyne leaned over and pulled her close, and Alphys clung to her, immediately soaking Undyne's good shoulder.

Undyne's gunshot wound was healing well, and she no longer needed medicine for it. She had been taking care of Dandelion with Basket's help, though she mostly tried to stay at the hospital with Alphys as much as she could. At this moment, Basket and Olceal were taking care of Dandelion at Alphys and Undyne's place until she got back, and she was so glad she was here.

Dr Tollona was concerned from Alphys's reaction, and she looked at Undyne in a bit of a panic. "I'm sorry?" she offered.

Alphys waved a hand at her and shook her head, and Undyne snorted.

"She's not sad," Undyne explained gently, resting her cheek on her wife's head gently and smiling, and Alphys nodded in agreement, still sobbing. "She's overwhelmed and happy. And relieved. She's been going a little crazy in here."

Alphys nodded again, hugging Undyne tighter.

Dr Tollona looked relieved. Very carefully, she moved to the IV tree and looked at the bags, there. "Well, you're pretty much done your fluids, so I can have you out of here in a half-hour if that's oka--,"

Alphys moved over and hugged her in reply, shocking her and Undyne at the same time. Alphys nodded gratefully, then let go, pulling back to wipe her eyes with the heel of her hand and try to calm down - with only a little success.

The doctor smiled and reached up, turning the drips off, and Alphys held out her arm eagerly. '"I-I'm s-sorry," Alphys murmured, blushing a little and looking away as Dr Tollona began to unhook the IVs and pull out the needle. "I-I j-just... I'm-I'm just..." She trailed off, sniffling.

"Don't worry," replied the doctor with a wider smile. "I understand." She placed a piece of cotton over the insertion site, and Alphys reached over and held it in place while the doctor taped it down. "There. I'll need to do one more physical, prescribe you your medication, and then you can go home and finally away from here."

Alphys stared at her arm as though dazed. "Tr-truly," she whispered. "I-I never th-thought I would e-ever see home again..." She looked up at Undyne. "O-or even you."

Dr Tollona quickly moved out of the way, just as Undyne lunged and grabbed Alphys into a hug.

"Shut up," Undyne said gently, rubbing her back slowly. "Of course you were. You're determined, now, so start acting like it, dammit."

Alphys laughed softly, closing her eyes and burying her face back into Undyne's shoulder, unable to say anything to that.

"I'll get you some real food while you get poked and prodded, okay?" Undyne added gently, and Alphys nodded gratefully. "And then, we'll go home together, and get back to planning Basket's wedding in the most embarrassing way possible."

Alphys grinned. "Sounds wonderful," she agreed.

* * *

When they got home, it wasn't Basket who greeted them at the door, but Mettaton.

"Met--," Alphys started, but was cut off when she was pulled into a very gentle but firm hug.

Mettaton's expression was both pained and happy, and she shut her eyes, hugging him back as tight as she could.

He had been told by Undyne the moment she could, but he had been overseas at the time and wasn't able to get back until recently. He had been texting Undyne - and then, when he could, Alphys - every single day and more than once, demanding updates almost every time. The moment he got home, he had rushed to the hospital and was promptly glued to Alphys's bedside. He couldn't stay every day like he wanted to, but he did it whenever he could.

Before now, the last that they had heard was that he had ended up being buried in paperwork for future events, and was trapped under it for at least two days. To see him now, and at their home, was a nice surprise, indeed.

"Alphysy," he whispered, his eyes closed. "Welcome home, darling."

"Metta," she said, her voice choking up, and she hugged her dear friend as tight as she could.

"Mum?"

It was Basket's voice from inside the house, and Mettaton raised his head and had barely let go when Basket took his place.

She latched onto Alphys as hard as she could and shouted, _"Mummy!"_ so loud both Alphys and Undyne winced; even as an adult, Basket's voice had no volume control.

From inside the house, Olceal started laughing, and they heard a happy giggle and a clap from Dandelion in reply to his laughter. (By now, it should be noted, Dandelion was a veteran with formula, and though Alphys would resume breastfeeding as soon as she could, while she was still healing, it wouldn't be an issue.)

Basket wouldn't let go, even when Alphys tried to move into the house, so with a smirk to Undyne, who was grinning, she grabbed Basket and walked with her still attached.

Basket's eyes went huge and she clung tighter, shocked by the increased strength - even in her state - that Alphys now had.

She immediately let go, staring at Alphys as if she'd just told her a dirty joke, and Alphys laughed so hard she had to lean against Mettaton and hold a hand to her chest before she got her breath back.

"Holy _fuck,"_ Basket whispered. "Mummy, what the hell?!"

"DT is scary shit," Undyne replied, walking in and ruffling Basket's hair, then grabbing her and pulling her off the floor and carrying her into the room, causing her to scream and swear in reply - and both Olceal and Dandelion to laugh.

Alphys walked in and knelt down in front of Dandelion, her eyes burning but her smile so wide it hurt. Dandelion's eyes were on her the moment she caught sight of her, and once she knelt down, Dandelion was crawling toward her as fast as she could. Alphys scooped her up, sat down, and held her close and in her lap, closing her eyes. Dandelion headbutted her at least four times while giggling and making noises at her, clutching the front of Alphys's shirt so tight that it would be permanently stretched out.

"Dandy," Alphys whispered, and Dandelion rested her head on her shoulder and murmured in reply. "Oh, my baby, hello."

Alphys was crying, but she was so _happy_.

"How was Lioness while I was gone?" Undyne wondered, her hand on Basket's head, her grin still wide.

"Annoying," Basket smirked. "She kept looking around for either you or Mum. Made us look like we were practically dirt in comparison. Clearly, we're the last on her list for potential mothers."

Olceal smiled. "I don't mind that," he added, his eyes sparking, and Basket stuck her tongue out at him. He reached up and grabbed it, and she choked and almost fell over, which had him letting go and bursting into laughter.

Dandelion looked up and clapped her hands from Alphys's lap, and Alphys was smiling through her tears, her cheek still on Dandelion's head.

Undyne looked over, their eyes met, and they stared at each other for a long time.

Even as Basket and Olceal took turns trying to grab each other's tongues and Dandelion clapped in encouragement. (Mettaton then intervened, grabbing both of their tongues, and they both squawked and made similar choking noises, which had Mettaton laughing triumphantly.)

Nothing, Undyne and Alphys agreed, in that one look, could be better than _this_.

But they would spend the rest of their lives trying to.

They were lucky enough to have that.

* * *

Later that day, the Dreemurrs stopped by, as did sans and Papyrus, which led to a night that rivalled Alphys and Undyne's wedding night when it came to excitement and volume. In fact, it _surpassed_ it, with not just Mettaton, but Basket as well, who actually was a decent singer and enjoyed driving her Diva Mettaton crazy with her song choices - all the songs that he hated. They ordered in, watched at least four movies, and talked and talked in between.

However, shortly after nine, only about five hours in, both Alphys and Dandelion had passed out on the chair, Undyne sitting at Alphys's feet.

She had been so absorbed in what they talked about that she hadn't even noticed until about twenty minutes into it, when she looked up and said, "Alphy, love, do you want another coffee?"

Then she blushed and coughed, standing up and leaning over Alphys, gently shaking her awake.

Alphys did wake up, but several factors kept her incredibly sleepy, and she needed help not only getting out of the chair, but to find her way to the bedroom. Basket took her sister and took her to her room, and Undyne half-carried Alphys to theirs, Alphys muttering the entire time.

"Sorry, so sorry... _wanted_ to stay awake... stupid  meds... stupid... stupid _rib_... er, rib not there... _garbage rib_..."

"Relax, sweetie," Undyne replied, sitting her down on the bed and starting to undress her. Alphys didn't fight it, her eyes blinking slowly and her body relaxed. Undyne then tossed a nightgown over her head, and she shrugged into it slowly.

"Alright, love, lie down, but keep your nightgown up." Alphys lay down on her back and did so, her hold loose but enough, and she closed her eyes and sighed deeply, practically melting into the bed.

By the time Undyne had cleaned her stitches and had them bandaged again, Alphys was down for the night. She started snoring halfway through, and Undyne laughed softly, unable to keep it in.

She adjusted the gown back down, pulled several blankets over Alphys, and then knelt down beside the bed for a moment, reaching up and stroking the skin from Alphys's forehead to the very back slowly.

Alphys sighed in her sleep, and Undyne smiled wider and stood up, kissing Alphys gently before she turned the lights out and shut the door.

She met Basket in the hallway, who smiled at her. "Dandelion's a blob," she reported.

"So's Alphy," Undyne agreed, and they laughed, putting their arms around each other's shoulders and walking back to their family.

The moment they got there, Undyne snarled, "Okay, my wife and my baby are _sleeping_ , so if _any_ of you so much as make them open their eyes, I'm going to _destroy_ you. Fucking _get it?!"_

The reply she got was an entire sea of gentle, affectionate smiles, and she rolled her eyes.

"I mean it, you morons!" she snapped, before she glared at them and sat down in the chair.

The rest of the night was spent in a quieter mode, but it did go late in the night, far later than expected. Everyone was simply too happy to stop celebrating - only sleep would stop them.

They did eventually all go home in need of it, but it was with a sense of relief, of happy peace, one they hadn't felt in a very, very long time.


	15. And Oh The Joy, Oh The Joy, It Brings To Me

That night, when the house was quiet and Undyne was in bed beside Alphys, at one point, she woke to Alphys snuggling up against her side, one arm going around her and holding onto her tight.

Then, with a racing heart, she heard Alphys whisper, "I love you... so much, Undyne..."

The words were so achingly familiar, decades-old, and yet they still had that power to punch her right in the heart and bring joyful tears to her eye, just like they had the first time she'd ever heard them.  
  
Undyne waited until Alphys started to snore again before she wrapped her arms around her and pulled her closer, closing her eye and smiling.

Soon, she drifted off, too, and she had never felt happier.

* * *

On Frisk's forty-fifth birthday, everyone was on a slight edge, but luckily, only a few prank calls, rude UnderNet messages, and some questionable letters were sent.

It was honestly a wonderful relief, and they spent the milestone Underground at New Home and threw a party for pretty much everyone they knew and as loud as they could.

It was at this party that Frisk, and not Asriel, got drunk, and it was probably the most hilarious thing anyone had ever seen - though the next day she was embarrassed and regretted it, swearing off alcohol for the rest of her life, like Asriel.

But this wasn't the only party they had to look forward to.

There was, after all, a wedding.

* * *

A year later, on their anniversary, Basket and Olceal got married. Since it was also close to her birthday, she was extra-spoilt by everyone, and so, in turn, was Olceal.

They got married on the surface at City Hall, the chapel packed with their family and friends.

It ended up that they both wore each other's favourite colours: Olceal wore a forest-green suit and tie and a light green dress shirt, and Basket wore a dark purple peasant top with long, frothy sleeves and black, wide-legged pants. When they first saw each other wearing those colours, they both laughed so hard they had to lean against each other to stay standing.

The moment they were married and they kissed, Undyne started heckling and cackling at them. It was pretty much perfect.

They had their dinner at the same dining hall that Alphys and Undyne had theirs, which also included Mettaton's special touch of officiating the entire thing.

At the head table sat the newlyweds, Alphys, Undyne, Dandelion (who was now over a year old and very, very interesting, to say the least), and Olceal's mother, Tally - a small, thin woman who looked frail at first but apparently was actually made of liquid steel and razor-sharp wit.

(When Undyne and Alphys met her, they immediately adored her and regretted that they hadn't met her sooner; they had expected someone far meeker, as she tended to worry over Olceal so much, but they were indeed wrong in that assertion. She worried - but she was very strong indeed.)

Basket was very, very firm when it came to the order of things: food came first, then whatever Mettaton wanted to do was fine, just as long as everyone's bellies were full. Once again, Papyrus 'helped' with the food, making sure that all of Basket and Olceal's favourites, which ended up being pretty wonderful.

Because it was Mettaton, speeches were of course next, which had Basket sighing and making sure she had a wad of tissues in front of her - and in front of Olceal, too. Olceal opened his mouth to protest at first, but when his new wife merely raised an eyebrow, he closed it and nodded, taking a handful of them.

It was good, because Tally went first, and she was absolutely wonderful.

"Olceal grew up with just me," she began, after she introduced herself. "We lost his dad far too early, just as we were starting our new life here on the surface. But Olceal never made me feel terrible for it."

She smiled at him, her small face lighting up as she looked at her son. "With perhaps the usual hiccups a mother does face, Olceal always made sure that he was as good as possible for me, always trying to help to alleviate my worry. And I certainly worried."

Olceal smiled and scratched his cheek a little, and she grinned at him.

"But though he was a bit of a loner, or sometimes around questionable friends, he never gave me much trouble. He could have, but he never did. He got good grades and seemed to do very well in school - save perhaps a small little skirmish with a girl he didn't get along with and who then got tired of it and punched him in the gut. Then... he was _happy."_

She grinned at Basket, then, and Basket went scarlet, unsure whether to be embarrassed or proud.

"Or so I thought, really. I always _thought_ my boy was happy - but I never realised I'd never seen him happy, until suddenly he told me that he'd stopped a fight, and that the little girl who punched him was the one he helped - who had grown up into a pacifist, and was now being bullied by his former friends."

Tally paused, looking down for a moment, then looked up again with a wider smile. "That night, he came home and told me all about it, including a description of how this girl - curiously named Basket - _could_ have fought back but chose not to."

Basket was blushing full-bodied now and was looking down at her hands. It wasn't one of her proudest moments, but she didn't regret it.

Olceal put his arm around her and held her close.

Tally smiled at Basket gently, now, noticing her reaction. "He didn't say it, but I could see that something was making him happy, and that something had red hair."

There was a gentle laugh at that, and now Olceal was blushing hard enough to show it.

"Soon, when they became friends, my little boy grew happier and happier, and I suddenly watched him bloom. And then, I saw him fall in love."

Tally looked down again, and Olceal's heart suddenly ached - his mother was tearing up. "And my boy was a young man all of a sudden, and absolutely thriving."

She looked up again, this time right into Basket's eyes, and she froze, her own eyes welling up in return. "Basket, before I first met you, I couldn't believe you could _exist_. I didn't think that anyone or anything could make Olceal so happy. But when he brought you home and I met you, I could not only finally believe it, but see _why_."

Tally's voice wavered, and Basket's tears fell, her hands tangled in her lap, slowly ripping apart a couple of tissues into confetti.

"You're wonderful, Basket," Tally said softly. "You've made Olceal so happy, truly happy, into a man I was so afraid I could never raise him into. I'm so lucky that you came into his life, because I could finally see Olceal become his wonderful father..."

Her voice broke, and Olceal stood up, surprising everyone but Basket. He went to her side and hugged her tight, and Tally hugged him in return, patting him on the back before she said, "Oh, stop - _I'm_ the worrier, not you," with a laugh and gently pushing him away. He hesitated, and she shoved him back toward his seat. He stumbled but went back, which brought more laughter, and he blushed but smiled.

"What I'm trying to say is, Olceal?" Tally smiled at him tearfully. "I don't think I could be prouder than I am at this moment. And, Basket?" She looked up, biting her lip. "I love you. You're going to be a wonderful wife, and you're already a wonderful daughter."

Basket broke down, her glasses going to her head and her face into the tissues, and Tally walked over to her and gave her a tight hug.

"This is why speeches are a bad idea," Undyne winked at Alphys, and she smiled, a little teary, herself. "It's my turn, and I'm gonna make everyone laugh so hard they puke." She stood up, gave Tally a hug, too, then walked over and took her place, grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Hello, all of you," she began. "I'm Peridot's mom, Undyne, and I fucking hate speeches."

Dandelion immediately shouted out, "That's bad, Mommy!" before Alphys could stop her, but Undyne - and everyone else - just laughed. Dandelion was Undyne's language police, and she always made sure that she knew it.

"I know, Lioness, but let me have it just this once, will ya?"

Dandelion frowned, eyeing her mom sharply, before she leaned back and nodded sombrely in agreement.

"Thanks. Anyway, I hate this, so I'm gonna make this short and sweet like Tally is, okay?"

There was another laugh at that.

"Olceal, I hated your guts when I first heard about and then met you, and wanted to kick your little butt all over the school. But then you went and surprised me by growing up and into a decent, awesome and fun guy. I hate eating my own foot, but I'll gladly take it with mustard on top if it means that Peridot has a partner like you. But I also have to hand it to you for having the balls to marry into this insane family. You're crazy, but that's probably a good thing."

She looked at her eldest daughter next and said, very softly. "And you, my strong Peridot, have good taste. I know I don't have to worry about you, because I already know you'll always do the right thing. I mean, you're already _doing_ \--,"

"Undyne!" Alphys yelped, cutting her off.

Undyne, in reply, laughed her laugh and stepped down, ending it on that.

Both Basket and Olceal were scarlet, now, but at least their tears were dry, which was Undyne's goal all along.

Alphys coughed, shooting her wife a sharp look - one that was grinned at - before she went up, herself. (Dandelion watched her sharply from where she sat, making sure she could see her mum the whole time, then relaxed once Alphys was not moving anymore. She was oddly like a cat that way.)

"Uhm," Alphys started. "Hi. I'm Alphys, Basket's mum. I-I'm terrible at this, because usually if I make speeches like this, they're lectures, and I at least have notes, b-but I forgot my notes, so, uh..."

She blushed, her eyes wide. "I-I just wanted to say... th-things haven't r-really been easy for Basket." She paused, swallowing hard, and suddenly found the words, proceeding to word-vomit like usual.

"In fact, they were _really_ hard for her. School was awful. For a long time, I was scared for her. She was so smart, so talented and wonderful, yet everyone around her only wanted to hurt her. It... was so frustrating. But then Olceal defended her. And even though she was skittish and wasn't trusting of him, he never gave up, and gave her space and time to warm to him, and she did, and once she did..."

Alphys lit up, smiling at Olceal so warmly he smiled back, unable to help it. "Oh, Bassy was so happy. Tally said that Olceal was truly happy with Bassy, and it was definitely the same for her with him. And once they began to date, well..."

Alphys's voice wavered, and she rubbed her chest a little, looking down. "She just... _soared_."

She hesitated, looking up, her smile fading as suddenly her tears took over. "I-I'm so happy for both of you. I-I j-just feel as if, despite all of those years of torment, Olceal is f-finally what you have always deserved... Well." She smiled a little. "Save the beginning," she added with a shaky giggle.

"Uh." She paused, suddenly realising she had gone on for a while, and she blushed. "Er. I l-love you so m-much. W-welcome to the family, Olceal."

She hesitated again, then hurriedly jumped down and practically ran back to her seat.

Undyne hugged her, and both Basket and Olceal stood up and hugged her, too, which made her both giggle and cry a little. Dandelion waited her turn patiently, then practically jumped into her lap and hugged her tight.

After that, the speeches were less emotional but no less wonderful.

"Basket, you're amazing. Olceal, you're also amazing. Of course you're together!" Nicky chirped happily. "I can't see either of you with anyone else, and I love it! And I love both of you very much. I really look forward to watching you two!"

Basket smiled at her. It was especially important for her to hear this from her cousin, as of course she remembered the bittersweetness she had had to feel for many years while in love with Nickname - only later to have her heart broken by her rejection. But then, that was also when Olceal stepped in and revealed that he loved her - healing those broken bits back together again.

Thus, Nicky's words were extra special to both her and Olceal.

The rest of the speeches were good, but they weren't as good as the ones before them, despite having the same amount of heart. (Later, Undyne would admit that she was glad they had speeches, because she had had so much fun, and _not_ because she cried at least three times. Of course not.)

Once they were finished, Mettaton stepped in and said, "Time for the first dance, lovelies! And I _know_ you'll love _this_."

Olceal and Basket stood up together, but to their surprise, so did Undyne.

Blinking, they watched as she went up to stand at the sound stage, looking calmly devious. Behind her, Mettaton, Napstablook, and Shyren stood ready, and Undyne threw her hair back behind her shoulders and stood up as tall as she could, still grinning.

Alphys and Dandelion stayed at the table with Tally, both grinning similar grins.

"Get up here, punks," Undyne snarled when she saw her daughter and son-in-law hesitate. Confused, they did, and when they stood ready to dance, Undyne's eye sparked happily, and the music began.

And so did Undyne.

"'If I... should stay... I would only be in... your wa-ay,'" Undyne began, her voice still beautiful and clear - and, if one listened for it, wavering a little with emotion she barely contained.

With wide eyes, both Olceal and Basket stared first at each other, then at her, as they realised that she was singing the very first song they had danced to, at one of the school dances: the Dolly version of "I Will Always Love You."

It was such a cheesy song, but they both loved it for that simple reason, and Undyne knew it.

"Oh, Mommy," Basket whispered, burying her face into Olceal's shoulder.

Olceal swallowed hard, his own eyes filling up, and together, to Undyne's heartfelt voice, they danced, just like they did when they were just starting to fall in love - only this time, it was so much better, because that love was already so much better, and Undyne's voice was far more precious.

"Bass," Olceal whispered into her fan-shaped ear, and she looked up at him. "I love you. I can't wait to get home and start our life together."

"Stupid stoat," Basket replied, grinning up at him through her tears. "We've always _done_ that. _This_ just makes it fancy is all."

He kissed her in reply, and she returned it.

Undyne sang the entire song without breaking down, but on the last few notes her voice broke, and when she was done, she coughed and turned her face away, trying to hide her face in her hair as the music faded.

When it did, Undyne turned back and said, "I love you so much, Peridot, and you too, Olceal."

Her voice broke again, and she growled and stormed off of the stage, going back to Alphys and burying her face into her shoulder to cry like she needed to. Both Alphys and Dandelion comforted her, Alphys also crying, while Dandelion played with her hair.

There was a pause, then applause for Undyne, very few eyes appearing dry in that room. Undyne growled in reply, and that just made them laugh.

Next, the Puzzle Dance. Both Basket and Olceal had discussed it earlier privately, and had come to a decision together.

Thus, with a conspiring shared grin, they walked to the middle of the floor and stood apart.

There was a pause, one full of anticipation, before Basket very calmly walked over to Olceal and punched him in the stomach.

She didn't hold back, either, and he yelped and went down, his eyes watering. She grinned down at him, and he started to laugh breathlessly, and soon, so did she.

There was a stunned silence, before everyone finally got it and started laughing, too.

Well, almost everyone.

 _"Hey!"_ Undyne shouted, standing up. "You cheaters! You cheated! You planned that! _Not cool!"_

Basket helped Olceal back to his feet and rubbed his stomach affectionately, and he leaned on her, still laughing.

She stuck her tongue out at her mom and answered, "My wedding, Mom! And besides, _I win,_ so what's your problem?!"

Undyne opened her mouth, then shut it, blinking. She shrugged and sat back down, finally smiling. Basket was right, after all - even if Undyne was, too.

Mettaton scowled at both of them as they went back to sit down, not amused, but he then sighed and put his smile back on, anyway. "Alright, everyone! Now the party _really_ begins!"

It was a wonderful wedding, needless to say.

* * *

In the years to come, Basket and Olceal would eventually move out of their small apartment into a larger one, especially when they both got better jobs.

Olceal, who discovered he loved the food industry in Australia, ended up becoming a supervisor of one of the independent coffee shops in the area (and eventually he would become manager, as well).

Basket, however, took longer to find what she wanted to do, seeming to find her stride in retail, but not truly finding what she wanted to do until she found herself working in a book store, especially in the art department. It was the ultimate combination of the two things she loved the most, and she ended up managing the department in a year.

Dandelion grew up to be very interesting, indeed. She was very observant, critical, and sometimes bossy. However, she was also incredibly intuitive, loyal, affectionate, and had a sense of humour that was unmatched. She was also incredibly bright, especially when it came to science and math, which made Alphys incredibly happy, as Basket was more artistic than analytical. Therefore, at every chance she could, Alphys encouraged Dandelion's mind and loved to watch her absorb almost everything she was taught. She was going to be a very accomplished woman, indeed.

Once Dandelion was in school, Alphys was back in the lab, itching to resume the DT research and finally give it the kick it needed to soon be entered into mainstream medicine. As she was clearly a success story of careful, finely-tuned and responsibly-used DT administration, the research in turn was given better funding and far more leniency. As a result, she was able to create and spearhead innovation in the field - which meant incredible things for monsters and their health.

Undyne was... Undyne. She stayed at the school as a gym teacher and loved it, loving it even more when Dandelion went to school. She was soon disappointed when her Lioness showed a very significant lack when it came to exercise. To put it simply: Dandelion hated gym. However, Undyne wouldn't let up, so while she hated it, she still managed to pass it, though she did it with a scowl.

Other than Dandelion making the occasional wave, not much changed.

Frisk and Asriel remained in their jobs, doing everything they could in what they did, Asriel occasionally helping Frisk with politics, and Frisk sometimes supply-teaching at the school.

Nickname remained diplomat, and luckily was never haunted by a dream like she had been before - not for many years, at least, which was nice.

Papyrus and sans were also rather unchanged, though eventually sans decided to work at the school full-time. (He said it was boredom, but everyone knew it was actually loneliness.)

Mettaton was always Mettaton, very rarely stopping, which was truly what the world needed, if one thought about it.

And even as they aged, Toriel and Asgore refused to quit the school, especially now that things were the most peaceful than they ever had been, ever. Working in the school made them happy, and they saw no reason to quit.

However, there's one thing yet to be told, and the reason why the peace was so prevalent and flourishing.

Of course, there was the occasional rift or conflict, and Frisk or Nicky always managed to step in to keep it from getting terrible, but things never escalated to the high degree that they had before. And there was a good reason for that, too.

Which was nice, as they could all agree: they'd had enough adventure to last their entire lives - and several others following.

Now was finally the time to enjoy the peace they had fought so hard to have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a very specific reason why Undyne sings that version of that song for Basket and Olceal, and yes, it's a reference to something. If you get it, you are amazing and I adore you. If you don't, well, I still adore you :3. I'm pretty sure if you Google the song, Dolly Parton, and then Lauren Graham, you'll get it. It's probably one of the most emotional things I've ever seen put to film, and I wanted to pay tribute to it because I'm a cheeseball with a side of cornbread. e_e I make no apologies!


	16. Epilogue: But You Can't...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is the epilogue, as promised, and as voted by all of you :3.

Several years after he was arrested and charged, Carlson was convicted of his crimes and sentenced to life in prison - with no chance of parole. He tried to appeal it, but there was very little he could do or say that would change the outcome. Carlson was sent immediately back to jail.

One night, while he was lying on his cot and alone, he suddenly heard the door open and close, and he snarled out, "I don't need anything, so please go away. I need to sleep."

"Oh, you need what I have for you."

He jolted in shock, recognising that voice at once, and he turned. There, standing calmly, was Darian Reden. He looked strangely calm, but his eyes... they were what truly scared him.

"What the fuck are _you_ doing here?" Carlson snarled. "You _can't_ be here. I could have you thrown out of here in a second!"

Darian smiled, sending another stab of fear into him. "No one is going to help you this time," he replied, walking towards the cot.

Carlson shouted out for help, as loud as he could, but found his voice sounded strangely muffled, as though in a vacuum.

Darian's eyes glinted in reply to the attempt, amused by it.

"You can't kill me," Carlson snapped.

"That's true," Darian agreed. He slowly held up one hand and pointed at Carlson. Immediately, he went rigid, his eyes flaring in shock. "I can't kill you."

And he grinned wider, his eyes flashing.

_"Directly."_

* * *

The next morning, when the guards did their rounds and came in to check on Carlson, they were shocked at what they found. Carlson was hanging from the ceiling of his cell, his cot's sheets tied to the barred window and used as a noose. There was absolutely no question about it: he was dead, and it was suicide.

An autopsy revealed that he indeed died of hanging; there was no sign of foul-play whatsoever. Nothing else was ever said about it, as there was absolutely no sign of foul play - except his own.

Truly, it was just as well.

**\--THE END--**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, save Friskriel100, I truly do not see myself continuing Abovetale, now that this is complete. All of the loose ends have finally been tied, truly, and save little short stories and such, there truly is nothing left to tell :). I know I've said that before, but this time, I really can't see anything more I have left to tell. 
> 
> That being said, good dogs I loved writing this beast of a series, and I admit I'm sad to see it done. I'm shocked by how much I wrote in the amount of time I did so. It just goes to show you: when you have incredible readers who encourage you and cheer you on, you can pretty much do anything.
> 
> So, thank you so much for coming this far, for sticking it through, and for managing to swim through over 360,000 words to get here. You have no idea how much it means to me. I have never been so touched and grateful because you exist and believe I could do it, and I'm absolutely nothing without you. So, thank you again so much. I mean it from the bottom of my heart.
> 
> **Just, fucken thank you!!! I ADORE YOU!!!**


	17. Epilogue 2: But We Can

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the alternate ending, the "Mercy" ending, if you will, of this story. I was encouraged by The nth dimension to post it, and with a few tweaks and additions to it, here it is. That way, those of you who picked it can still have it, while those of you who did not still have the original No Mercy ending. :3 Needless to say, this is dedicated to you, nth dimension. Thank you for encouraging me.

The day after Carlson was formally incarcerated, Frisk went to see him at the prison. She was slightly hungover from the night before, and she hadn't told Asriel - yet - but she had decided, in the early hours of the morning, that this was something she needed to do.

She didn't expect him to come out, to be honest. She expected him to ignore her summons, the fact that she had come specifically to see him, as a guest. But he did come. And when then both sat down, Frisk picked up the phone and pointed to his, and he did the same, his face oddly blank.

The moment he did, however, she wished he hadn't.

The things that came out of his mouth were filthy. They were the worst kind of insults imaginable, and spoken in such a loud voice that she probably didn't even need the phone.

He insulted her integrity. Her fidelity. The parentage of her child. Her fitness as a mother. Her place in her parents' life. Everything he could think of, he screamed at her, and he managed to get much out before his guards could drag him away.

She left in tears. She had expected anger. But not _that._ Why had she expected less? How naive was she? How _foolish_ was she?

When she came home, Asriel was already awake and at the door, clearly about to come find her. She stopped him the moment he saw she was weeping, and she told him everything. He raged about it, vowed to go to the prison himself and make him pay, but she stopped him.

"I have to do this, Asriel," she said softly, her hand at his chest. "I have to keep visiting him."

 _"Why?"_ he demanded. "Why would you do something so stupid? Why would you put yourself in a position to just be insulted?"

Frisk stared up at him. "Because I put him there in the first place," was the only answer she could come up with.

* * *

She waited another week. Then, she went again. Again, he agreed to see her, only this time, she was prepared for fury and hatred.

Instead, what she got was, "Why the hell are you here, monster? Wasn't my reaction to you last time enough to keep you away?"

Frisk stared at him in silence for a moment. He was glaring at her, hatred practically pouring out of his skin, and she could tell that if he was given the chance, he'd probably strangle her to death and laugh while doing it. That's why she was quiet. The question stunned her.

"I don't know," she admitted, feeling that it was pointless to lie. "I just felt the need to see you. I put you there, after all."

"Don't be a fucking idiot," he snarled at her. "Good god, Dreemurr, are you stupid. Did _you_ inject the DT into me? Did _you_ make me go after your stupid _dyke_ friends?"

 _"Don't call them that!"_ she snarled back suddenly, anger flashing hot within her.

"See, even now, you ignore everything save what is aimed at your friends," Carlson sneered. "I just called you stupid, and all you focused on was the fact that I called out your monster freak friends."

She slammed the phone down and left. She could hear him laughing at her, still, even as she walked away.

* * *

The next week, she went again, vowing this time not to let him bait her. This time, he seemed almost amused to see her, as if wondering if she'd have the mettle to come back after what he'd said.

"Interesting," was his greeting. "You came back. I was sure I'd chased you away for good."

"You pissed me off," she answered calmly. "That's not enough to scare me away forever."

"So it seems." He leaned forward, resting his chin on one hand. "What _would_ it take to scare you away forever, Dreemurr? You know I'm powerless, now. Even in here, none of my former colleagues want anything to do with me. I'm akin to Bernardo, now, and I didn't even kill anyone."

"But you would have," Frisk said softly. "And you practically did kill one person. My friend, Alphys."

"Monsters aren't people, Dreemurr."

Frisk sighed. "And you wonder why your fellows won't help you? This world is changing. This city has already changed, set the precedent, set the new way for how everything will soon be. Monsters will travel, growing outwards, move to other countries. We will soon be like we were. You were destined to be here, don't you think?"

"Dreemurr, do you forget your history?" Carlson wondered, sounding bored. "Even _I_ know that humans and monsters eventually split off after, what, centuries of peace? Enough to be banished? Come on."

Frisk glared at him. "And yet we'll still doing it, Carlson. We're still integrating."

"And how long will it take for that to crumble, I wonder?"

Before she could reply, he hung up, and stood up to leave. She gestured back to the phone, but he merely turned his back on her and walked away.

* * *

"frisk."

She looked up and sighed, seeing sans now beside her on the balcony. She had no idea how he could do that, well enough to fool her peripheral vision. "Hi, sans."

"you're gonna see that fucker today?"

She made a face. "Must you be vulgar?" she wondered.

He sat down in the chair beside her, and she sipped her tea. "it's what he is and you know it."

"No," Frisk replied. "He's a shit-eater. Fucker implies he gets sex."

sans stared at her as she took another sip, impressed. "well, you got me on that one, kiddo," he replied with a grin. "fine, then. you're gonna see the shit-eater today, again?"

She nodded.

"why?"

"I dunno. I just feel like I need to."

"frisk." She turned to him. hearing the seriousness in his voice. "let me kill him. i can make it look natural, and you won't have to spare another thought on him ever again." He reached over and touched her arm gently, and her eyes softened. "please, frisk. let me do this for you. i hate seeing you this way."

"sans, thank you, truly," she said, smiling. "But you can't." She paused. "And make sure Darian knows not to, as well." When sans scowled, she nodded and sipped her tea. "Thought so. You know, I'm a politician for a reason, sans."

"i hate it sometimes," he admitted, pulling away his hand and sighing. "and i hate seeing you hurt like this."

"I'm not hurt," Frisk said honestly. "I'm... challenged by him. I don't know why I feel the need to see him, but I'm always one to go with my gut. The times I've gone against it never end up well for me, anyway."

"like with guns?"

She nodded, her expression darkening.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Asriel scowled. "What the _fuck,_ bastard?!" he snarled.

"Morning, sweetie," Frisk said, smiling up at him. "sans came by to have a chat. Wanna join us?"

"Sure, after I punt his ass over the side," Asriel growled. It only made sans and Frisk laugh.

* * *

"Tiresome," Carlson greeted her with.

"Perhaps," Frisk agreed. "But I do wonder, do you get many visitors?"

"My lawyer," he answered. "Working on my appeal."

Frisk snorted before she could control it. "Like the Crown would ever allow that."

"I still have a right to try, do I not?"

"Sadly," Frisk replied. "We do live in a forgiving country, especially for rich white men like you." She smiled thinly. "But I don't think it will help you much this time."

"How is your friend, by the way?" Carlson suddenly wondered. He smiled in a way that she imagined was similar to her own. "She was shot pretty badly. So was her wife. How are they doing? It would be a shame if they suffered permanently."

Frisk knew she was being baited and decided to act accordingly - somewhat. "She almost died," she agreed. "In fact, in a way, she did die. Her wife was okay; your little goonies only shot her in the shoulder, and for her, that's a mere flesh wound. Her wife... well..." She smiled wider. "DT can be used in more ways than to help a bitter old man get stronger."

To he satisfaction, he paled in surprise. Clearly, he'd had no idea that Alphys had been resuscitated using DT. It made her feel oddly superior, that his sources didn't know everything - or if they did, they weren't telling him.

"Why are you here?" he asked suddenly.

"To see you." she replied. "To look you in the eye. To show you that I'm not afraid of you."

"Only because I'm behind bars, Dreemurr." He smirked. "If I were not, I'm positive you'd feel differently."

"Probably," she agreed. "But you're there, and that's that."

He hung up on her and turned to leave. That was fine; she was done, anyway.

* * *

Another week passed.

"You keep coming back." Carlson said it flatly.

Frisk nodded.

"Haven't you got what you came for, yet? Aren't you satisfied I'm safely tucked away from your family, in the prison that I deserve?"

She repeated the gesture.

"So why come back?"

"I don't know," she admitted.

"Does it get you off, monster?" he wondered. "Seeing me like this?"

"I had thought, at first, it would," she said bluntly, surprising him. "I mean, what better joy could be had than to see my greatest antagonist imprisoned? I honestly thought that after that second visit, I'd never need to see your ugly face again."

He reddened, but she continued.

"But something keeps bringing me back here. I don't know what it is. But I will keep coming back here, every week, until I figure it out."

"And if I refuse to see _your_ ugly face?"

Frisk nodded. "I'll still come, accept the rejection, and leave. But I need to keep doing it."

"I'm not a puzzle, Dreemurr. I'm not a plaything, a cat toy for you to pounce on and toss around for your amusement."

"And you think me amused?" Frisk answered, her voice sharp. "I'm not playing with you. Every time I see you, I see my friends hurt. I feel the bullet in my chest. I feel overdosed with morphine. I feel the impact of a bullet in my chest. There's no joy to be had coming here."

"I wish you were dead," he snarled suddenly, getting close to the glass. "I wish I'd killed you that day, shot your head instead, and threw you into that lake."

She didn't flinch, though inside she wanted to. "But you didn't," she answered. "You may have DT, Carlson, but you can't reset."

He hung up on her for that.

* * *

Months passed, and she kept going. And each time, he answered her. He never failed to show up. And he always said ugly things, though never as vile as that first day. He always hung up on her first, always stormed away, but he always returned the next week.

After six months, she brought company.

 _"You!"_ Carlson said in shock, staring at Nicky, who held the phone to her ear instead of her mother, who sat beside her. "You... you _freak!_ Why are _you_ here?!"

"My mami asked me to be," Nicky said plainly. "And I also wanted to see you. I wanted to see how the man who almost destroyed my mami was doing after half a year here."

He was thinner. He looked sallow and tired. But his eyes blazed like they did the day he was freed - especially now that he was talking to Nicky.

"If you had never been born," he answered, "none of this would have happened."

"Not true," Nicky replied easily, making Frisk very proud of her. "You shot my mami when I was still in her womb. You started this before I was even a glimmer in my papi's eye. Don't lie."

Carlson stared at her, stunned. She was right, after all. Frisk wondered what upset him most: hearing it at all, or hearing it from Nicky, the person he hated almost as much as Frisk.

"My papi wanted to come along today," she was saying, taking advantage of his silence. "He wanted to yell at you. I told him no, because I imagine you get much of that here already, don't you?"

"It's not a party here," he hissed. "They treat me, someone who hasn't even killed anyone, like a pariah."

"Yes," she agreed. "You tried to kill a pregnant woman, the Ambassador for humans and monsters. Three times. Maybe more. You shot and almost killed Undyne, someone beloved by both humans and monsters. You almost killed me, many times, when I was still a child. You shot my aunt Alphys twice and left her for dead, and kidnapped her baby..." She stared at him. "You can't be seriously wondering why you're treated poorly."

"All of those things were not done by me directly," he answered hotly.

"Liar," Nicky replied. "You shot my mother in the chest. Maybe the rest you ordered, but that? You did that. And the fact that you merely ordered others to do the rest - some of which you stood and watched - makes your hands no less bloody."

Carlson was silent. Frisk was surprised that he hadn't hung up yet. She watched carefully, noticing that he was watching her daughter the same way.

"You've become quite the politician, freak," he finally said.

"Yes," she agreed. "But the kind of my family. Not yours."

That was when he hung up. Nicky shrugged and did the same, turning to Frisk. "That wasn't as bad as I expected," she admitted, as Carlson was escorted away. "Can we have lunch, now?"

Frisk smiled and nodded, very proud to be her mother, indeed.

* * *

Frisk continued her weekly visits, and Carlson continued to accept them. As the months went on, Frisk started telling him of what was going on while he was locked away, the political matters, the troubles and triumphs of her peoples. He was always amused by her failures, but frustrated by her victories, especially when they were ones that he had fought against while free. Despite this, he oddly seemed to... almost _enjoy_ her reports, her visits, and had come to expect her, even, sometimes greeting her with, "What's the story today, monster?"

On the year anniversary of his imprisonment, she walked in to an empty booth. Carlson was not there. He had denied her visit. She was surprised, and even waited fifteen minutes, just in case, but he didn't show up. Later, she found out why.

"He lost his appeal," Nicky reported when she got home from the prison. "It was announced today, for obvious reasons. Apparently it was news to him, too. I guess he really was expecting one."

"Fucking idiot," Asriel snorted.

Frisk was silent, thinking about it. It troubled her.

* * *

The following week, he was there. She sat down and took the phone, and he did the same. To her surprise, his eyes had finally lost their fire.

"Happy?" he wondered.

"I don't know," she admitted, her insides writhing. She didn't feel right. "I don't want you to be free, but..." She sighed. "I'm a pacifist. I don't want anyone to suffer."

"Oh?" he snorted. "Even _me?"_

Frisk hesitated, then nodded, realising it was true. She didn't like him, didn't want him free, but she didn't want him to suffer, either. It was why she felt so conflicted.

"Dreemurr," he sighed, rolling his eyes. "You are such a stupid, naive fool."

And he hung up.

* * *

For months, he didn't come out. After a while, she stopped trying. She felt strange about it, like she'd failed him, somehow, though why she felt responsible for him in that way, she didn't know. She knew she wasn't. She knew she owed him nothing, and he owed her more than something. But it was oddly painful to admit defeat.

One night, she cried in Asriel's arms over it. She wasn't a big weeper, so he knew she was genuinely upset by this. He held her in silence, stroking her hair and kissing her gently until was calmer.

Then, he said, as softly as possible, "Frisk, he's not worth this."

She nodded into his shoulder, her eyes closed. "I know. I hate him, Asriel. And yet I feel like, even though I've won, that I've actually lost."

"You haven't lost, Frisk," Asriel said gently. "He's a bitter, horrible person, one bent on destroying everything you've worked so hard for. He wants to take us back to the dark ages. He deserves to be where he is, and certainly does not deserve your tears."

"Why do I feel this way?" she wondered, choking up again. "Why do I feel so terrible?"

"I don't know, love," he admitted sadly, his own eyes burning, now. "I don't know."

* * *

Then, suddenly, a month later, she got a call from the prison: Carlson was requesting to see her. Bemused, she went, and found him already waiting for her. He looked about the same, save his eyes: they were lit again - dimly, but lit.

When she picked up the phone, he said, without preamble, "This will be our last meeting."

"Why?" she asked. "Why have a last one now when I thought it already had happened?"

"I want our ties to be cut formally, Dreemurr," he answered, his voice clipped and oddly formal. "You've been coming here now almost two years, and every time you expect nothing from me. I needed to figure out why, only to come up with the fact that _you_ don't even know why. Am I wrong?"

"No," she murmured.

"Then I want to tell you: you don't need to come here ever again. I've come to realise that you're right, in a way: I do belong here. The things I did, they're worthy of this place. I'm with the right people for the crimes I've committed, and even they have the right to hate me."

Frisk stared at him. "Have you found God or something?" she blurted.

He laughed shortly. "Of course not!" he replied. "I've had lots of time to think. I've had only time to think. And this is what I've come up with. However, you? You don't need to torture yourself coming here anymore."

"What do you mean?" she wondered, confused again.

"You don't know why you come here, but I do. You want to remind yourself what corruption can do to a person."

Frisk stared at him, her gut clenching suddenly at the thought.

"I'm exactly what you could become if you allow the power you have to corrupt you. Hell, you almost let it, holding that gun to my head. If you had blown my brains out, you would have become me: exactly what you said. So you torture yourself with the reminder of my existence so as not to make my mistakes." Carlson leaned back, clearly satisfied. "Am I wrong?"

"N-no," she admitted weakly. "You're right. I just... never knew. That's... exactly it."

He nodded. "I can't forbid you from coming here. You have more power than me and more freedom. But if you do, I can't promise to always come to see you. Like I said: I'm not a toy. Nor am I a post-it note reminding you not to be corrupt. If you can't do that without seeing me every week, then you deserve to be corrupt and get what's coming to you."

Frisk swallowed. He was right.

He smirked at her. "I know this, because in a way, I see myself in you, just on the opposite end. I see that I could have used my ambition and passion the way that you have. You and I are very much alike, monster. That's what keeps you coming here. But I don't want you here anymore, not for that reason."

Frisk nodded slowly. She understood. If the situation were reversed, she would feel the same: it was true. All of it was true. She felt an oddly sick kind of relief knowing it at last, especially since it was he that was the one to tell her, to show her.

"I won't come again," she decided softly. "You're right; I need to be strong on my own. I can't keep using you as I have."

"Well, look at that," he said, raising a brow. "You seem to have grown up at last. I'd say good for you, but I still hate you, monster."

She smiled. "Trust me, I loathe you."

"Then we can part in good spirits."

"Agreed."

He nodded, still smirking, and hung up. She did the same, and watched him leave. Once he disappeared into the prison, she left for the last time, and she didn't look back.

**THE END**


End file.
